The highest counts for LAB were presented by sweet cherries store dunder controlled atmospheres due to their growth being favoured by the lower levels of O2 and pH (Nguyen-the and Carlin, 1994). With respect to ripening stages, after 30 days of storage, Stage 3 presented the highest counts for LAB. The LAB counts showed levels that were below the maximum limit of 7 log CFU g recommended by Debevere (1996), throughout the experiment.