The
changes in the microbial counts are shown in Figure 4. The titratable acidity increased
from a value of 1.04 to 3.15 during fermentation of kirario. The pH showed a rapid
decline from an initial value of 6.4 to 4.0 within 24-hour fermentation and then a
steady decline from a pH of 4.0 to 3.0 in the remaining 24 hours of fermentation.
The total viable counts were high and continued to increase steadily throughout the
fermentation of kirario with the LAB being the predominant microorganism. The
lactococci (Lactic Streptococci) showed a fairly constant trend during fermentation
with values ranging from 5 - 8 log10 CFU/ml. The yeasts and moulds counts were relatively constant during the fermentation with a rapid decline of 3-log cycles
towards the end of the fermentation (42nd hour). This decrease was up to about a value
of