The fermentation performance and growth characteristics of five strains of lactic acid bacteria were studied. The pH value， titratable acidity and viable count were used as indicators to determined the ratio of the bacteria， and the culture medium as well as the cultivation conditions were obtained. The results showed that the starter culture of Lactobacillus plantarum A9 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides LN1（2 ∶ 1） ratio could promote acid production and viable count. Moreover， the optimal medium for lactic acid bacteria fermentation was skim milk（150 g/L）， glucose （30 g/L）， corn protein powder（10 g/L） and corn juice（40 g/L）. Further， the optimum culture conditions were as follows： culture temperature 30 ℃， initial pH value 6.6， loading volume 40 mL/250 mL， and finally the number of viable bacteria in the fermentation medium was up to （2.04 ± 0.06） × 109 CFU/mL. Adding the starter culture of lactic acid bacteria had significant advantages in sticky， chewiness and sensory quality of Niandoubao than the traditional natural fermentation （P<0.05）， but the other texture characteristics had no significant difference. This indicated that the starter culture of lactic acid bacteria showed good vitality and fermentation performance in Niandoubao， which could significantly improve the quality of Niandoubao and shorten the fermentation time.