Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research

Artisanal dairy products are considered an affordable food source and are highly valued by Algerian consumers.

In this study during the period from 2019 to 2020, phenotypic identification methods and protein analysis by MALDI-TOF MS were performed to identify lactic acid bacteria isolated from 19 sample and five types of artisanal dairy products collected in different Algerian regions (East, West, North, South).

A number of 250 strains were isolated, only those that showed the characteristics of lactic acid bacteria were identified by analysing their proteins, The results showed that the strains belong to different species of LAB namely: Lactobacillus fermentum (31.03%), Enterococcus faecium (24.14%), Lactobacillus plantarum (21.55%), Enterococcus faecalis (17.24%), Lactococcus lactisssp lactis (4.31%), Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus paraplantarum (0.86%). Identification by MALDI-TOF MS was similar to that provided by phenotypic Characterization. This new technique that has been used is considered as an effective tool for rapid identification of food-associated lactic acid strains and has also been successfully extended to dairy isolates.