Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Fermented Mare's Milk “Chigee” in Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

The bacterial flora in fermented mare's milk “Chigee” produced by nomadic families in Inner Mongolia, Autonomic Region of China was investigated. Two hundred and fifty-eight strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from ten samples. They contained 153 strains of cocci and 105 strains of rods, and their distribution was characteristic to each sample. Of the coccal strains, Enterococcus faecium (23.3%) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum (20.9%) were detected at high levels followed by Streptococcus thermophilus (6.9%), Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (3.9%) and Pediococcus dextrinicus (0.8%). Dominant species of lactobacilli was Lactobacillus plantarum (21.3%), and other mesophilic lactobacilli such as Lactobacillus casei (9.3%) and Lactobacillus paracasei (4.7%) relatively had a high rate of frequencies. In addition, Lactobacillus helveticus (1.6%) and Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens (1.2%) were also isolated as the constituent species. However, some strains of Enterococcus sp. (3.4%) and Lactobacillus sp. (2.7%) were not identified.