<i>In Vitro</i> Evaluation of Probiotic Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Some Traditionally Fermented Ethiopian Food Products

Probiotics are live microorganisms which when consumed in large number together with a food promote the health of the consumer. The aim of this study was to evaluate <i>in vitro</i> probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional Ethiopian fermented <i>Teff injera</i> dough, <i>Ergo</i>, and <i>Kocho</i> products. A total of 90 LAB were isolated, of which 4 (4.44%) isolates showed 45.35-97.11% and 38.40-90.49% survival rates at pH values (2, 2.5, and 3) for 3 and 6 h, in that order. The four acid-tolerant isolates were found tolerant to 0.3% bile salt for 24 h with 91.37 to 97.22% rate of survival. The acid-and-bile salt-tolerant LAB isolates were found inhibiting some food-borne test pathogenic bacteria to varying degrees. All acid-and-bile-tolerant isolates displayed varying sensitivity to different antibiotics. The <i>in vitro</i> adherence to stainless steel plates of the 4 screened probiotic LAB isolates were ranged from 32.75 to 36.30% adhesion rate. The four efficient probiotic LAB isolates that belonged to <i>Lactobacillus</i> species were identified to the strain level using 16S rDNA gene sequence comparisons and, namely, were <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> strain CIP 103151, <i>Lactobacillus paracasei</i> subsp. <i>tolerans</i> strain NBRC 15906, <i>Lactobacillus paracasei</i> strain NBRC 15889, and <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> strain JCM 1149. The four <i>Lactobacillus</i> strains were found to be potentially useful to produce probiotic products.