Lighvan cheese is one of the mostly used popular types of traditional Iranian dairy product. This type of cheese is made basically from raw milk of sheep, accompanied by 20-30% goat milk without starter culture. The pleasant smell and taste of this cheese indicates that different useful types of native microorganisms are activating in the production and ripening period of this cheese. Thus, these cheeses are good sources of different beneficial microbes which could be used in starter cultures for the production of fermented dairy products. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the technologically relevant characteristics of seven strains isolated from traditional Lighvan cheese in order to determine their potential in the development of new starter cultures.To this end, the proteolytic and lipolytic activities of the strains in culture media were firstly assessed. Then, these activities were evaluated through PCR technique. Finally, all test strains were evaluated for their viability in simulated gastric condition. The results showed that all isolates at 30°C and all strains except L. plantarum5 at 37°C were attributed proteolytic activities. All strains except L. plantarum isolates 1 and 7 showed lipolytic activities at 30°C and at 37°C only strains of L. plantarum isolates 1,2,3,4 showed lipolytic activities. It was also identified that from 7 test isolates, 3 isolates of L. plantarum, isolate 1, 2, 3 could potentially be represented as probiotic according to their resistance to the available conditions in upper gastrointestinal transit. Hence, the result of this study confirmed that traditional dairy product with the indigenous probiotic flora could be a good candidate for isolation and development of new starter culture.
