- 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.
- Significant differences were found among samples from different production. In particular, samples made from mixed milk resulted in higher counts of mesophilic lactic acid bacteria than the controls. As already reported by several authors, mesophilic bacteria do not come from the starter only, but their origin is also attributed to raw milk.