Dairy products containing living bacteria have to be cooled during storage. This
applies in particular to products containing live probiotic bacteria. Cooling is necessary
to guarantee high survival rates of the probiotics, and to yield sufficient stability
of the product.22,23 In addition, oxygen content, redox potential, and water activity of
the product have to be considered,24 as the target of probiotic bacteria is the intestinal
tract. This may be of considerable importance for prepackaged cheese. Cooling of
probiotic cheese is also necessary to reduce or inhibit the interaction of the active
microorganisms with the components of the food. The degree of interaction depends
on the kind and amount of carbohydrates available, degree of hydrolysis of milk
proteins and the availability of essential amino acids, and composition and degree of
hydrolysis of milk lipids, determining the availability of short chain fatty acids.13,25
However, the proteolytic26 and lipolytic properties of the probiotic bacteria may have
considerable effects on taste and flavor of the product.13