In Vitro Characterization of Technological and Health‐Promoting Properties of Enterocin Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria From Camel Milk and Its Suitability as a Dairy Starter

ABSTRACT The growing interest in functional foods has highlighted the dual role of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in food preservation and probiotic health benefits. This study investigated the probiotic potential of bacteriocin‐producing LAB (BLAB) isolated from camel milk. Of the 59 bacterial isolates, five strains demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity against Listeria monocytogenes and were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The selected strains were evaluated for key probiotic properties, including tolerance to bile salts and low pH, antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi, cell auto‐aggregation, cell surface hydrophobicity, resistance to lysozyme and phenol, antioxidative potential, and amylolytic activity. Antibiotic susceptibility, hemolytic activity, and DNase production were examined to assess the safety of isolated strains. Among the five strains, one strain, identified as Enterococcus faecium RSCUDR7, exhibited superior probiotic characteristics and was selected for application as a starter in skim milk. The results demonstrated that RSCUDR7 showed cell survivability at 7.06 ± 0.06 log 10 CFU/mL for up to 14 days, exceeding the minimum threshold of 10 6 CFU/mL required for potential probiotic functionality; however, this does not confirm clinical or in vivo efficacy. These findings suggest that E . faecium RSCUDR7 is a promising candidate for the development of a functional probiotic starter culture for milk‐based dairy products.