- Mesophilic and Thermophilic lactic acid bacteria in coccus and rod forms, showed high counts already at the beginning of production (Figure 3) In particular, mesophilic forms, from an initial value of 5 log cfu/g (CC) and 6 log cfu/g (CE and CG), showed an increasing trend during ripening, reaching values of about 7 log cfu/g, in contrast to thermophilic forms that showed a decreasing trend. In fact, the mesophilic lactic acid bacteria took advantage over the thermophilic lactic acid bacteria due to the low ripening temperatures.