Antioxidative and Probiotic Activities of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Traditional Artisanal Milk Cheese from Northeast China

The antioxidant activities and probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) selected from traditional artisanal milk cheese from Northeast China were investigated in this study. Among the 322 isolates, 175 LAB were identified through probiotic characterizations. Twenty-three out of the 175 strains exhibited antibacterial activity against more than four enteropathogenic bacteria. The antioxidant action of 23 LAB was evaluated by different methods, including scavenging of hydroxide radicals, DPPH radicals, superoxide anions, and ABTS(+) radical cation. The ability to resist hydrogen peroxide and superoxide dismutase activity was also studied. These strains significantly showed antioxidative capacity compared with a non-antioxidative strain, closely followed by the standard probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG or even better. Based on 16S ribosomal RNA-sequence analysis, the 23 isolates belonged to the species Lactobacillus plantarum (16), Lactobacillus paracasei (2), Enterococcus faecium (2), Lactobacillus helveticus (1), Weissella paramesenteroides (1), and Pediococcus pentosaceus (1). In addition, five out of the 23 strains were susceptible to most of the tested antibiotics, showed extremely high levels of hydrophobicity similar to or better than the reference strain L. rhamnosus GG, and did not exhibit any hemolytic activity. These five strains were also confirmed safe through bacterial translocation. Results suggest that at least five probiotic candidates can be explored as prospective antioxidants and used as a potential antioxidant strain to be utilized in the development of functional foods and new starter cultures.