Numerous types of fermented meat products exist in Europe, and they are highly appreciated by consumers. In addition to the economic importance of this supply chain, these products constitute a valued cultural heritage strongly linked to the identity of a population or to their production areas. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) may vary across the different fermented products, resulting in a diversity of microorganisms that constitute the microbiome of the product, which are worth of characterization for improvement of quality control. LAB of fermented Portuguese Alheira sausages from different regions of Trás-os-Montes (Bragança, Mirandela, Vimioso, Mogadouro, Vinhais and Valpaços) were isolated (n=384) from 67 samples and identified by sanger sequencing of the 16S ribosomal gene (rRNA) region. Genomic DNA (gDNA) of the samples was extracted using GF-1 Bacterial DNA Extraction Kit (Frilabo, Portugal). The primers used for amplification of the 16S rRNA gene were 27f 5’- AGA GTT TGA TCC TGG CTC AG-3’ and 1492r 5’-CTA CGG CTA CCT TGT TAC GA-3’. Sequencing reactions used BigDyeTM Terminator v3.1 while purification of samples used SAM/BigDyeXTerminatorTM bead solution (ThermoFisher Scientific, Portugal). Capillary electrophoresis was run in SeqStudio Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Portugal). Sequence results were aligned with sequences from the NCBI database using the BLAST algorithm. Finally, sequences with identity higher than 85% were accepted as the best match for the LAB isolate. Genetic analysis of 25 samples showed a diverse lactic acid producing microbioma. LABs from the family Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae were dominant, found in 64% of samples, while other organisms of the family Streptococcaceae and Enterococcaceae were found in 36% of samples. The total samples are currently being analysed, with the ultimate aim to classify the abundance of LABs at the level of each fermented sausage, and according to the different locations.