Study of some Probiotic Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Local Infant Flours Sold in Côte d'Ivoire

In Côte d'Ivoire, local infant formula does not always meet the standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is therefore necessary to define an effective strategy to protect the health of infants.It is in this context that this study was carried out with the objective of determining some probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from local infant flours with a view to incorporating them into local infant porridges. To do this, 50 strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from local infant flours of corn, millet and sorghum.The morphological, physiological and technological characteristics, the antibacterial activity, the resistance to antibiotics of the isolated strains were determined. Their identification was carried out by the study of biochemical characteristics and genotypic characterization by PCR method followed by digestion of PCR products. The results show that all the lactic acid bacteria strains isolated were Gram-positive cocci. 40% of these strains showed antimicrobial activity against all indicator microorganisms tested. All 50 strains tested showed good growth at all temperatures, pH and %NaCl tested.60 and 52% of these strains showed resistance to oxacillin and tircacillin + clavulanic acid respectively. These strains do not show proteolytic or lipolytic activity and do not produce exopoly saccharide. All these strains belong to the generaEnterococcus. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from local infant formula could be incorporated into local infant formula to maintain infant health.