Soy milk is one of the best alternatives for non-dairy milk. It is free of cholesterol and lactose and might be used as a beverage for vegans, lactose-intolerant and milk-allergic patients. But consumption of soy milk is limited, because of its beany flavor and presence of oligosaccharides. To overcome these limitations, lactic acid fermentation is the best way to improves digestibility of milk constituents. In the present study, probiotic soy curd was developed by using Lactobacillus acidophilus as starter culture. The prepared soy curd was evaluated for their probiotic characterization along with antimicrobial activity and antibiotic resistance. The prepared soy curd possesses all tested probiotic characteristics. The soy curd was also found antagonistic activity against selected human enteric pathogens and resistance for selected antibiotics.

Antimicrobial, Antibiotic resistance, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Probiotic, Soymilk, Soy curd

In the present study, soy curd was prepared by using Lactobacillus acidophilus as starter culture. After preparation of probiotic soy curd, probiotic potential of prepared soy curd was studied. The lactic acid bacteria i.e., Lactobacillus acidophilus showed all tested probiotic potentials in soy curd. It showed pH tolerance from pH 3 to pH 8, bile salt and phenol tolerance up to all tested concentration i.e., 0.5% to 2% and 0.1% to 0.4% respectively. Viable cell count of prepared soy curd was found maximum for 7 days after preparation. The prepared soy curd showed antimicrobial activity against all tested pathogens. In antibiotic sensitivity profiling, the prepared soy curd showed antibiotic sensitivity towards vancomycin, chloramphenicol and streptomycin whereas towards gentamycin and neomycin, it showed resistant. On the basis of this finding, the study concluded that the prepared soy curd had probiotic potential.

Suryendra Kumar Mishra, Sangeeta Shukla and Anita Raisagar (2023). Probiotic characterization of Curd Developed from Soy Milk. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(9): 786-791.