Adhesion Properties of Probiotic <i>Lactobacillus</i> Strains Isolated from Tunisian Sheep and Goat Milk

International audienceFour hundred strains isolated from Tunisian sheep and goat raw milks were initially screened for their ability to survive the GastroIntestinal Tract (GIT). Forty-three among the four hundred bacteria were resistant to pepsin, pH 2, pancreatin and bile salts at 0.3%, even after 5 hours of incubation. Identification using 16S rRNA gene sequencing was established and we obtained as a species Lactobacillus plantarum (29 isolates from sheep milk and 11 from goat milk) and Lactobacillus pentosus (2 isolates from sheep milk and 1 from goat milk). We showed the ability for auto-aggregation and/or hydrophobicity properties. Finally, both M63 and C78 strains showed an important level of adhesion to three intestinal epithelial cells Caco-2 TC7, HT29-MTX, and HT29-CL.16E. Taken together, these properties allow the lactobacilli strains to be considered promising beneficial strains for developing functional foods for consumers