Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Azerbaijani traditional dairy products

Studied lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from two types of final ready-to-eat artisanal dairy products (cheeses – Agdas, Sheki and yogurts - Karabakh, Ganja and Baku) manufactured inAzerbaijan. The Agdas cheese belongs to the group of semi hard cheeses whilst the Sheki cheese belongs to hard cheeses. Both of cheeses were produced from cow’s milk without the addition of thestarter cultures. The Karabakh and Baku yogurts were produced from bovine’s milk and the Ganja yogurt from buffalo’s milk. Overall 378 isolates were collected from these dairy products and 296 ofthem were Gram-positive and catalase-negative. It was determined using biochemical tests and molecular methods that four species of LAB were mostly present in these cheeses: Lactobacillusplantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus paraplantarum and Enterococcus faecium while in yogurts, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and Enterococcus faecium dominated. Five enterococci were producers of antimicrobial compounds