1School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, South DC-1797, Australia
2School of Bioscience, Taylor's University, Malaysia
*Corressponding Author: Email: k.kailasapathy@taylors.edu.my
Online published on 6 December, 2013.
Probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus LAFTI L10 and Bifidobacterium lactis LAFTI B94) were encapsulated in calcium-alginate hydro-gel to study the effect of encapsulation on their survival in Cheddar cheese. Twelve batches of Cheddar cheese were manufactured incorporating encapsulated and free probiotic bacteria. The survival and the effect of encapsulated probiotic bacteria on the growth of starter lactic acid bacteria (SLAB) and non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) were assessed over a six-month ripening period. The survival of encapsulated bacteria (107 cfu/g) was found to be significantly (P<0.05) greater than that of free bacteria (105 cfu/g) at the end of six-months. Also, addition of encapsulated probiotic bacteria did not change the population of SLAB and NSLAB. This study therefore demonstrates that encapsulated probiotic bacteria survive better than free probiotic bacteria in Cheddar cheese during the long ripening period and had no effect on the SLAB and NSLAB growth during ripening.
Probiotic bacteria, encapsulation, cheddar cheese, starter and non-starter lactic acid bacteria
