RESUMO
Aims: The aim of this study was to assess probiotic attributes such as adhesion, auto aggregation, hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus strains from dairy products. Methodology: In this study, the autoaggregation, coaggregation, hydrophobicity and adhering abilities and antimicrobial activities of six Lactobacillus strains belonging to different species were assessed. Hydrophobicity was determined by bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons, xylene, n-hexadecane and chloroform. Results: The percentage of hydrophobicity of the strains range from 29.5% to 77.4% as measured by the described test. The autoaggregation among Lactobacillus strains range from 15.8% to 63.1%, while coaggregation range from 18.6% to 55.1%. Adhesion of the tested strains to buccal epithelial cells range from 8.0% to 50%. The tested Lactobacillus strains demonstrated variable inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that one Lactobacillus strain expressed broad antibacterial activities against a group of bacterial pathogens and along 2 other strains exhibited ability to adhere to epithelial cells as shown by aggregation, coaggregation and hydrophobicity, indicating that such isolates can be good candidates for probiotic use.