The objective of the present study was to collect different Lactic acid bacterial strains from culture collection centers and screen their functional probiotic characteristics such as acid tolerance, bile tolerance, antibacterial activity and antibiotic sensitivity for their commercial use. Among the six probiotic strains tested, all showed good survivability at high bile salt concentrations (0.3 to 2.0 % oxgall) and good growth at a low pH of 1.5 to 3.5. These probiotic species showed good survival abilities in acidic pH of 2.0 to 3.5 except Bifidobacterium bifidum-232 which did not grow at pH of 2.0. Among the six lactic acid species, Bifidobacterium bifidum 231 and Bifidobacterium bifidum 236 showed resistant to all antibiotics tested except Streptomycin (Co-Trimoxazole, Gentamicin, Norfloxacin and Tetracycline). All these probiotic organisms were screened for their in vitro inhibition ability against pathogenic microorganisms namely, E.coli ATCC, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella paratyphi, Staphylococcus aureus. Bifidobacterium bifidum 229, Bifidobacterium bifidum 232 and Bifidobacterium bifidum 233 inhibited the growth of all pathogenic bacteria tested. The study indicated Bifidobacterium bifidum 232 and Bifidobacterium bifidum 236 as potential functional probiotics for future in vivo studies for commercialization in the food industry.
