Xiao, HSedó Molina, GETovar, MMinh Quoc, HHansen, EBBang-Berthelsen, CH2025-04-092025-04-092024-01-15LWT, ISSN: 0023-6438 (Print), Elsevier BV, 192, 115695-115695. doi: 10.1016/j.lwt.2023.1156950023-6438http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19019The development of starter cultures tailored to different plant-based materials plays a crucial role in achieving better fermented plant-based dairy alternatives (PBDA). Therefore, the isolation and study of new plant-based lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains is essential. In this study, we developed a new medium for LAB isolation. Results showed this medium supported faster growth for all the 23 tested model strains, compared to the growth on M17 or MRS. Using the newly developed medium, 136 LAB strains belonging to 23 species and 11 genera were isolated from 73 spontaneously fermented food samples after a rigorous de-replication process. In addition, uptake of plant-based carbohydrates were studied. Only four strains were able to ferment all tested sugars efficiently. Furthermore, the production of butter aroma compounds in fermented commercial PBDA, including coconut, oat, rice, hemp, pea, hazelnut, and soy milk was also determined. These results demonstrated significant variations in the performance of fermenting PBDA by using different strains, with E. casseliflavus and L. sakei identified as efficient butter aroma producers in most of the tested conditions. Notably, certain strains also exhibited different behaviors when fermenting different substrates. The findings may provide valuable insights into developing new non-dairy fermented cultures with desired attributes.© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/30 Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences3006 Food Sciences0702 Animal Production0904 Chemical Engineering0908 Food Sciences3210 Nutrition and dietetics4004 Chemical engineeringIsolation and Characterization of Plant-based Lactic Acid Bacteria From Spontaneously Fermented Foods Using a New Modified MediumJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1016/j.lwt.2023.115695