For the utilization of animal blood produced in slaughter for the cultivation of lactic acid bacteria, the nitrogen sources in a complex(MRS) medium were replaced by blood plasma proteins. Focusing the purpose on the industrial production of a probiotics, the hydrolytic activities of three industrially applicable proteases were compared for the effective digestion of the proteins, and Alcalase(the product of Novo Nordisk) was selected with comparatively high activity. The growth of Streptococcus thermophilus KCCM12020 was best among the four strains of lactic acid bacteria tested. With Alcalase-digested proteins in the medium, the growth rates and the final cell concentrations were higher than those with non-digested proteins. The cell mass produced in the medium containing blood proteins as nitrogen sources, $2.5{ imes}10^9$ CFU/ml, was significantly high and about 70% of that in MRS medium, showing a great possibility for the utilization of animal blood proteins as economic nitrogen sources in the production of cell mass of lactic acid bacteria.