Evaluation of potential probiotics properties of the screened Lactobacilli isolated from home-made koumiss in Mongolia

Among thirty Lactobacillus strains, which were isolated and identified from the home-made koumiss in Mongolia, Lactobacillus helveticus MG2-1 was screened out for the best acid tolerance in artificial gastric juice at pH 3.0 after incubating for 3 h with the survival rate 96.15 +/- 4.22%. Further in vitro assessment revealed MG2-1 showed high tolerance to the artificial gastrointestinal juice and bile salts. Moreover, other desired probiotic proper-ties, including the ability of sodium taurocholate deconjugation (with the amount of cholic acid liberated 2.95 +/- 0.11 mu M), cholesterol removal (cholesterol removal rate 51.74 +/- 0.04%) and adhesion to Caco-2 cells (the adhesive rate 1.51 +/- 0.11%), were also observed. The results highlighted the probiotic potential of MG2-1, which deserved further investigation in in vivo studies to elucidate its health benefits.