Abstract

The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor. L.) silage were identified during different periods of evolution of sorghum silage in west Algeria. Morphological, physiological, biochemical and technological techniques were used to characterize lactic acid bacteria isolates. A total number of 27 representatives of lactic acid bacterial strains were retained and among them four dominant genus were identified as Lactobacillus (44%), Lactococcus (14.81%), Weissella (29.62%) andLeuconostoc (11.11%). The representative species identified were Lactobacillus brevis (25%), Lactobacillus pentosus (3.7%), Lactobacillus manihotivorans (11.11%), and Lactobacillus fermentum (3.7%). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis (14.81%), Weissella cibaria (7.2%), Weissella minor (11.11%),Weissella soli (3.7%), Weissella viridescense (7.2%) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides (11.11%). Only two strains of lactic acid bacteria were amylolytic. These results will enable future research on the relationship between LAB species and silage fermentation quality.

Key words: Lactic acid bacteria, identification, silage, sorghum, evolution, amylolytic, technology, species.