Innovations in dairy technology: probiotics in Turkish white cheese production

Cheese offers significant advantages as a probiotic carrier food compared to fermented milk and yoğurt due to its fat content, solid matrix, higher pH, low oxygen levels, and longer shelf life. This study examined Turkish white cheeses ripened with both classical starter culture (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris) and various probiotic cultures (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, and Bifidobacterium bifidum). The quality and functional properties of these cheeses were investigated to evaluate the effect of adding probiotics to traditional starter culture and their potential for use as carrier food for probiotics. During the 90-days ripening period, the numbers of L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. paracasei, and B. bifidum were determined to be in the range of 8.09 ± 0.34–8.65 ± 0.30, 7.19 ± 0.28–8.12 ± 0.90, 7.01 ± 1.45–8.73 ± 0.98, and 7.16 ± 1.10–8.21 ± 1.19 log cfu/g, respectively. The study found that probiotic levels in the cheese remained above the effective threshold (≥ 107 cfu/g) throughout the ripening process. This was accompanied by an increase in water-soluble nitrogen, an indicator of proteolysis, leading to higher ripening index values in all cheese samples. In terms of sensory evaluation, cheeses with L. acidophilus and L. paracasei were particularly well-received, scoring higher (7.90 ± 0.30–8.47 ± 0.12, 7.80 ± 0.34–8.75 ± 0.12, respectively) in taste and aroma than the others. Overall, probiotics positively influenced the quality and functional properties of the white cheese. Notably, the L. casei ATCC 393 strain, used for the first time in Turkish white cheese production, proved highly compatible with existing production technologies. It was concluded from the study that Turkish white cheese is a suitable food for transporting probiotics to the intestinal environment.