Abstract: To screen lactic acid bacteria with high folate production capacity, four strains were isolated from traditional fermented foods using folate casein medium for primary screening and high-performance liquid chromatography for folate quantification. Their probiotic properties were evaluated through assays simulating gastrointestinal conditions, as well measurements of hydrophobicity, self-aggregation ability and antioxidant capacity. Strain safety was assessed via hemolysis and antibiotic sensitivity tests. All isolates were identified as L. plantarum, designated L. plantarum 5, 11, 16, and 18, with total folate yields of (27.03 ± 1.96) μg/mL, (21.21 ± 1.46) μg/mL, (18.02 ± 1.36) μg/mL and (7.49 ± 0.62) μg/mL, respectively. Strain 5 exhibited the highest tolerance to simulated gastrointestinal fluids among the four strains, with survival rates of 77.92% ± 0.68% in gastric fluid and 60.58% ± 1.71% in intestinal fluid. All strains demonstrated strong hydrophobicity toward ethyl acetate and xylene (67.01%-93.59%). Self-aggregation rates ranged ifrom 62.10% to 78.64%. The four strains showed effective scavenging activity against DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radicals; with strain. 5 had the highest DPPH and ABTS scavenging rates (82.32% ± 1.36% and 70.60% ± 1.14%, respectively), while strain 11 exhibited the greatest hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity (60.01% ± 1.24%). These L. plantarum strains possess notable probiotic potential. Furthermore, all four strains were non-hemolytic and sensitive to most antibiotics, indicating suitability for further safety evaluation and preliminarily deeming them safe. This study enriches the pool of folate-producing lactic acid bacteria, systematically validates their probiotic attributes, and addresses limitations of existing folate-producing strains-such as functional singularity, incomplete characterization, and restricted applicability-thereby providing a theoretical foundation for developing folate-producing probiotics and their application in the food industry.