CHEMISTRY AND BIODIVERSITY, cilt.21, sa.3, ss.250-255, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Kurut is a traditional dry dairy product mostly consumed in Central Asia. In this study, the distribution of the dominant bacteria
present in kurut samples (n=84) originated from seven (Chuy, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Naryn, Jalal-Abad, Osh, and Batken) regions in Kyrgyzstan
were analyzed with Illumina iSeq100 platform. The dominant phylum detected was Firmicutes followed by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria,
Cyanobacteria/Chloroplast, and Tenericutes. The most abundant family detected was Lactobacillaceae followed by Streptococcaceae,
Enterococcaceae, Chloroplast, and Leuconostocaceae. At the genus level, Lactobacillus was the predominant one in samples and
Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Lactococcus, and Streptophyta followed this. Further comprehensive characterization analyses in kurut samples
may have potential applications both in industrial starter culture developments and also future therapeutic approaches based on potential
strains with probiotic properties.