| Summary: | Nowadays, consumers are interested in cheese produced without chemical additives or high-temperature treatments, among which, protective lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures could play a major role. In this study, the aims were to isolate, identify and characterize antilisterial LAB from traditionally produced cheese, and utilize suitable LAB in cheese production. Among 200 isolated LAB colonies, isolate PFMI565, with the strongest antilisterial activity, was identified as <i>Enterococcus durans</i>. <i>E. durans</i> PFMI565 was sensitive to clinically important antibiotics (erytromicin, tetracycline, kanamycin, penicillin, vancomycin) and had low acidifying activity in milk. <i>E. durans</i> PFMI565 and the previously isolated bacteriocin producer, <i>Lactococcus lactis</i> subsp. <i>lactis</i> BGBU1–4, were tested for their capability to control <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> in experimentally contaminated ultrafiltered (UF) cheeses during 35 days of storage at 4 °C. The greatest reductions of <i>L. monocytogenes</i> numbers were achieved in UF cheese made with <i>L. lactis</i> subsp. <i>lactis</i> BGBU1–4 or with the combination of <i>L. lactis</i> subsp. <i>lactis</i> BGBU1–4 and <i>E. durans</i> PFMI565. This study underlines the potential application of <i>E. durans</i> PFMI565 and <i>L. lactis</i> subsp. <i>lactis</i> BGBU1–4 in bio-control of <i>L. monocytogenes</i> in UF cheese.
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