The Vaibility of Probiotic Bacteria and Characteristics of Un-cultured Cream Containing Inulin

Abstract

The effect of different levels of inulin (0, 1.5 and 3 %) and probiotic bacteria including <em>Lactobacillus acidophilus</em> and <em>Lactobacillus casei</em> on chemical properties (pH and titratable acidity) and viable count of probiotic strain of sweet cream during 30 days for 15-day interval at 4°C were studied. All experiments were carried out in three replications. The results showed that during the refrigeration storage of samples, pH decreased and acidity increased significantly. The addition of inulin caused significant changes in pH, acidity and the viability of probiotic strains. By increasing the level of inulin to 3%, the pH of the cream samples decreased, and the acidity and counts of the probiotics increased significantly and this was more significant in <em>Lactobacillus acidophilus</em>, although the treatment containing <em>Lactobacillus acidophilus</em> had the highest acidity. The probiotic survival evaluation also indicated that inulin treatment at 3% level was the best treatment for increasing the viability of the probiotics in cream. The results showed that the addition of prebiotics, such as inulin, could play an important role in increasing the viability of probiotics. In general, changes in the chemical properties of sweet cream during the refrigeration were standard, which could be considered as a synbiotic product and sweet cream as a dairy product can also be considered as a good carrier for probiotic bacteria.