Microbiota of 'airag', 'tarag' and other kinds of fermented dairy products from nomad in Mongolia

The traditional fermented dairy products were collected from three nomadic families in Donto-Govi prefecture in Mongolia (central Mongolia), and those microbiota were analyzed. These samples consist three of 'airag', two of 'tarag', two of 'isgelen tarag' and 'qoormog', and some cheeses. In airag, Lactobacillus (L.) helveticus, L. kefiri, and Saccharomyces (S.) dairensis were common, and L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. farciminis, S. cerevisiae, Issachenkia (I.) orientalis, Kluyveromyces (K.) wickerhamii were also found. In tarag, isgelen tarag and qoormog, L. helveticus, L. kefiri, L. fermentum, L. paracasei and L. acetotolerance were found. L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was also found in one tarag and one qoormog samples. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis showed that there were diversity in each L. helveticus family and products, and there were common strains found in airag and tarag in the same family.