Chemical and microbiological quality of Garris, Sudanese fermented camel's milk product

In the present study, some of the chemical and microbiological characteristics of garris, a Sudanese traditionally fermented camel's milk product, were investigated. The chemical analyses included, pH, titrable acidity and ethanol contents. A total of 100 strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from twenty samples of traditionally fermented household garris. The selected isolates were phenotypically characterized by their ability to ferment 49 carbohydrates using API 50 CHL kits and additional biochemical tests. LAB dominated the microflora of garris samples, and the major genera were Lactobacillus (74%), followed by Lactococcus (12%), Enterococcus (10%) and Leuconostocs (4%). The most predominant Lactobacillus species were identified as Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei (64 strains), L. fermentum (seven strains) and only three strains as L. plantarum. Most strains produced the enzymes that are relevant to cultured dairy product processing. The Lactococcus species were identified as Lactococcus lactis. The average pH value of the samples was 4.42 +/- 0.21. The pH values were accompanied with increasing of titrable acidity which averaged 1.72 +/- 0.04%. The relatively high amounts of ethanol detected in all samples (average 1.40 +/- 0.03%) together with the high yeasts counts (6.0 +/- 0.53 log(10) cfu mL(-1)), indicated that the fermentation process of garris is a yeast-lactic fermentation.