The 3 rd International Symposium on Traditional Foods from Adriatic to Caucasus 01-04 October 2015 Sarajevo / Bosnia and Herzegovina Traditional Functional Foods 587 TF3_P901 Fatma Mert 1 Fatma Koj 1 Sine bzmen Toay 1 Esra Agel 2 * *: esra.agel@tubitak.gov.tr 1: stanbul Medipol University, Faculty Of Health Sciences, Dept. Of Nutrition And Dietetic, stanbul, Turkey 2: Tubitak, Kocaeli, Turkey Fermented foods and beverages are produced by microorganisms such as certain bacteria, yeasts and molds. Several species of lactic acid bacteria are used as starter cultures in the production or spontaneous fermentation may be occurred by their natural microflora of foods. It is known that lactic acid bacteria may have antimicrobial activity potential based on producing antimicrobial substances such as bacteriocins, lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide, so they may be used as protective cultures in food industry. In this study, antimicrobial activity potential of lactic acid bacteria strains which isolated from traditionally fermented Turkish foods such as yogurt, kefir, cheese, sausage, olive, pickle, butter and tarhana, against food-borne pathogens or spoilage bacteria such as L:DE6C:a >@?@4JE@86?6D, SEaA9J=@4@44FD aFC6FD, E?E6C@4@44FD 7a64a=:D were investigated. Totally 13 of home-made traditionally fermented food samples such as yogurt, kefir, cheese, sausage, olive, pickle, butter and tarhana were analyzed for isolation of lactic acid bacteria. M17 agar (for isolation of lactococci) and KAA (Kanamycin Aesculin Azide) agar (for isolation of enterococci) were used and incubated for 24-48 hours at 37XC under aerobic conditions. Gram staining and catalase test were performed and catalase negative and Gram-positive strains were selected for investigation of their antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial activity potential of 20 of lactic acid bacteria isolates were evaluated against L:DE6C:a >@?@4JE@86?6D, L:DE6C:a :Ga?@G::, L. :?@44Fa, SEaA9J=@4@44FD aFC6FD, E?E6C@4@44FD 7a64a=:D reference strains and also 12 of raw meat-borne L:DE6C:a >@?@4JE@86?6D strains by using agar spotting method. It was evaluated for clear inhibition zones around the isolates. It was found that 4 of lactococci and 3 of enterococci isolates showed antimicrobial activity against L:DE6C:a :Ga?@G::, L. :?@44Fa and SEaA9J=@4@44FD aFC6FD. It was suggested that these isolates have the potential for using as protective culture for food industry. Keywords: antimicrobial activity ,lactic acid bacteria ,food-borne pathogens ,antimicrobial substances ,bacteriocins