A total of 166 lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Khorasan Kurdish ewes\u27 milk cheese and identified phenotypically. They belonged to six genera and 26 species. Of the isolates, 65.7% were identified as Lactobacilli, 13.3% as Lactococci, 9.6% as Pediococci, 6.0% as Enterococci, 3.6% as Leuconostocs and 1.8% as Weissella. Lactobacilli were subdivided into three main groups: facultatively heterofermentative (30.12%); obligately heterofermentative (25.3%); and obligately homofermentative (10.24%). Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. helveticus and Lb. buchneri were the dominant species of all the LABs isolated from the samples, while the dominant species of each genus were Lb. plantarum, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, P. acidilactici, E. faecum, Leu. lactis and W. confusa. Non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) constituted 73% of all isolates
