Customized MRS (de Man, Rogosa, Sharpe) medium (de Man et al.,1960), without glucose, hereafter referred to as mMRS broth, was used as the fermentation medium throughout this study. The pH of the medium was adjusted to 6.5 before sterilization (at 121 °C and 2.1 × 105 Pa for 20 min). Oat bran and buckwheat flour were used as the sole energy sources (in concentrations of 2%, 4%, and 6%). UHT whole milk (3.5% fat) was obtained locally. Seven sterile bottles were filled with 90 ml of mMRS medium and another seven bottles were filledwith 90 ml ofwhole milk. A different concentration of the selected substrates was added to each series of bottles as follows: three with 2%,