Minas artisanal cheese, produced in the Campo das Vertentes region of Brazil, is made from raw milk and endogenous starter cultures. Although this cheese is of great historical and socioeconomic importance, little information is available about its microbiological and physical-chemical qualities, or about its beneficial microbiota. This work was aimed at evaluating the qualities of the cheese and the components used for its production, comparing samples collected during the dry and rainy seasons. We also conducted molecular identification and isolated 50 samples of lactic acid bacteria from cheese (n=21), water (n=3), raw milk (n=9), and endogenous starter culture (n=17). The microbiological quality of the cheese, water, raw milk, and endogenous starter culture was lower during the rainy period, given the higher counts of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus and total and thermotolerant coliforms. Enterococcus faecalis was the lactic acid bacteria isolated most frequently (42.86%) in cheese samples, followed by Lactococcus lactis (28.57%) and Lactobacillus plantarum (14.29%). Lactobacillus brevis (5.88%), Enterococcus pseudoavium (5.88%), Enterococcus durans (5.88%), and Aerococcus viridans (5.88%) were isolated from endogenous starter cultures and are described for the first time in the literature. The lactic acid bacteria identified in the analyzed cheeses may inhibit undesirable microbiota and contribute to the safety and flavor of the cheese, but this needs to be evaluated in future research.

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The microbiota of the Brazilian Minas artisanal cheese, made from raw milk, is not well known and may include probiotic bacteria. This study aimed to assess the in vitro and in vivo probiotic properties of the lactic acid bacteria isolated from these cheeses. Thirty‐six samples of the Lactobacillus/Pediococcus group were selected for in vitro investigation. Pediococcus acidilactici (PA2) and Lactobacillus plantarum (LP4) showed the best results and were tested for their ability to protect Salmonella Typhimurium orally infected mice. LP4 showed better probiotic potential than PA2 and allowed higher values of weight gain (P < 0.05). Thus, Lb. plantarumLP4 may have potential use as a probiotic in foods after future technological screening.

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