Abstract:In the study, lactic acid bacteria which could produce exopolysaccharids (EPS) were screened from pickled vegetables, the yield of the EPS was determined, and the strain PC715 which have the highest EPS producing ability was identified, at the mean time, the probiotic characteristics of PC715 were also evaluated, including its growth status, acid and bile salt tolerance, self-aggregation, co-aggregation, hydrophobicity, safety, antibacterial activity, and in vitro antioxidant capacities. The results showed that based on the 16S rDNA sequence, the strain with the highest EPS production yield (PC715) was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum. The yield of EPS715 was about 870 mg/L detected by the phenol-sulfuric method. The ultraviolet-visible spectrum indicated no proteins or nucleic acids were in EPS715. L.plantarum PC715 could grow well at both 28 ℃ and 37 ℃, its survival rates at acid conditions (pH=2.5, 3.0, and 4.0) were 75.54%, 91.77%, and 93.69%, respectively, and its survival rates in bile salts (1, 2, and 3 mg/mL) were higher than 40%. The self-aggregation rate of the stain was about 27.64%, the co-aggregation towards Escherichia coli was at about 16%, and the hydrophobic ability were between 0.88%-16.97% towards different organic solvents. L.plantarum PC715 were sensitive to tetracycline, ampicillin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, and clindamycin, had no hemolytic activity, and had inhibitory effects on E.coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus saprophyte, Hafnia alvei, Staphylococcus aureus, and Acinetobacter sp. The scavenging capacity of DPPH, hydroxyl, and ABTS+ radicals of L.plantarum PC715 cell-free supernatant were (62.90±0.87)%, (93.39±2.20)%, and (60.19±1.07)%, respectively. This study showed that exopolysaccharides producing-L.plantarum PC715 might had probiotic potential and could be used as the starter culture in the fermentation industry.