Selection of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from San Simón da Costa Cheese (PDO) in Order to Develop an Autochthonous Starter Culture

Abstract

Traditional cheeses are an important reservoir of microbial diversity that can have important biotechnological applications, especially with a view to improving the characteristics unique to each type of cheese, and in this respect, starter cultures consisting of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria strains are of particular interest. In the present study, we investigated lactic acid bacteria population diversity in San Simón da Costa cheese (PDO, Galicia, Spain) and found a predominance of the genus Lactobacillus, which by the end of ripening accounted for 78% of the strains isolated in Rogosa agar, around 40% of those in M17 agar and about 10% of those in MSE agar. The main species of lactic acid bacteria identified were Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus casei subsp. casei, Lb. paracasei subsp. paracasei, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Enterococcus faecalis. Virtually all the strains studied from a technological point of view yielded more than or equal to 0.24 g 100 mL−1 lactic acid. Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (SS 194), Lactobacillus paracasei (SS 1695 and SS 1689) and Enterococcus faecalis (SS 1378 and SS 1449) strains exhibited the greatest proteolytic capacity. Based on the overall technological aptitude of the tested strains, we can propose starter cultures and co-cultures that include different combinations of previous strains with a view to manufacturing San Simón da Costa cheese from pasteurised milk.