Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have long been consumed by people in several fermented foods such as dairy products. A study was conducted on lactating dairy cows to isolate and characterize LAB from dairy products found in and around Bahir-Dar city, North Western Ethiopia. Milk and milk products were randomly collected from dairy farms, milk vending shops, individual households, and supermarkets for bacteriological investigations. A total of sixteen samples were taken from different sources and cultured on different selective media: de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) agar for Lactobacillus spp.; M17 agar for Lactococcus spp.; Rogasa SL agar for Streptococci spp.; and MRS supplemented with cysteine (0.5%) for Bifidobacteria spp. Different laboratory techniques were implemented for LAB isolation and identification. A total of 41 bacterial isolates were grouped under five different genera of LAB and Bifidobacteria spp. were identified based on the growth morphology on the selective media, growth at a different temperature, gas production from glucose, carbohydrate fermentation, and other biochemical tests. LAB genera such as Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, and Bifidobacterium spp. were isolated and identified from raw milk, cheese, and yogurt. Based on the current study, the majority of the LAB (24.38%) was isolated from cheese and yogurt. Among these, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus (21.94%), Streptococcus (19.51%), Leuconostoc (14.64%), Bifidobacteria (12.19%), and Pediococcus (7.31%) spp. were also identified from these products. Furthermore, based on the bacterial load count and different identification methodologies, our study revealed that Lactobacillus spp. were the dominant LAB isolated from milk and milk products. As a result, since there are few studies on the isolation and identification of lactic acid bacteria from dairy products in Ethiopia, more research studies are needed to complete the identification and characterization to species level and their possible role as probiotics.