Novel probiotics identified in traditional Brazilian cheeses

Research conducted at the Center for Dairy Technology (Tecnolat) in Campinas, São Paulo state, Brazil, has identified lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that have probiotic properties and are beneficial to human health in samples of traditional Brazilian cheeses. Tecnolat is part of the Food Technology Institute (ITAL), an arm of the São Paulo State Department of Agriculture and Supply.The findings are published in the journal Current Microbiology.The researchers analyzed three strains of bacteria belonging to the genus Lactobacillus from Tecnolat's bacterial strain bank. The bacteria were isolated from traditional Brazilian cheeses, such as Prato and Minas, for example. These and other LAB are recognized for their probiotic potential and widely used by the food industry in products such as yogurt, kombucha and kefir, as well as cheese."We selected these strains after screening the entire strain bank to see which isolates had been found to have the best fermentative, enzymatic and sensory ...