PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL OF LACTOBACILLUS ANDLEUCONOSTOC STRAINS ISOLATED FROM TRADITIONAL SPONTANEOUSLY FERMENTED SHEEP HAM

This paper examined the probiotic characteristics of 29 lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional sheep ham. The research included isolation and identification of Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc strains. In vitro tests related to their probiotic potential included auto-aggregation and co-aggregation, antibiotic resistance, and hemolysis tests. Auto-aggregation values of the tested strains ranged from 24.5 to 68.1%, co-aggregation values of Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and ATCC strain of Escherichia coli ranged from 22.5 to 65.5% after four hours. The isolates showed a significant difference in the hydrophobic ability of the tested hydrocarbons, n-hexadecane, xylene, and chloroform, ranging from 5.25% to 80.9%. All of the isolates have shown high sensitivity to most analyzed antibiotics, while Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc strains had no positive hemolysis.The zone of inhibition against all tested pathogens was demonstrated by 55.1% of strains. The most significant inhibition zones were exhibited against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579, while 31.03% of strains did not show a zone of inhibition towards Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19115.