Lactobacillus plantarum CICC 6238 was screened out for γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production from 38 lactic acid bacteria deposited in the China Center of Industrial Culture Collection (CICC). The high-yield GABA strains were obtained by ultraviolet mutagenesis，and its production of GABA was (1.196±0.033) g/L，which was 2.33 times as much as original strain. CICC 6238 was studied extensively for its high tolerance to simulated gastric, intestine juices and bile salts with commercial probiotic strains (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001) as positive control. After incubation in bile salt environment, the survival rate of CICC 6238 was (36.90±1.63)% significantly higher than NCFM [(15.16±1.73)%]. After digestion in artificial gastric juice for 3 hours, the survival rate of CICC6238 was (84.05±1.87)%, which was remarkably greater than that of HN001 [(61.97±2.45)%]. After incubation in artificial intestine juices for 6 hours, the survival rate of CICC 6238 was (61.50±1.94)%, which was slightly lower than that of HN001 [(77.44±3.08)%] and NCFM [(79.42±2.08)%]. And CICC 6238 also could inhibit the growth of four kinds of intestinal tract pathogenic bacteria, especially Shigella flexneri with the inhibition zone reaching to (28.31±0.27) mm. The results suggested that CICC 6238 has high-yield of GABA and potential probiotic properties, which showed good potential for application in functional foods and health-related products.