The time course of inhibition (inhibition rate) brought about by L. acidophilus, L. casei subsp. paracasei and B. lactis against L. monocytogenes and S. aureus is plotted in Fig. 2.
L. acidophilus exhibited an inhibition rate toward S. aureus of 13.11% on the 1st day of storage, and on the 14th day of storage the inhibition ratewas of 0.66% (Fig. 2A).
No positive inhibition rate provided by L. acidophilus against L. monocytogenes was detected during the storage periods assessed (Fig. 2D).
L. casei subsp. paracasei presented the highest inhibition rates against both pathogenic bacteria tested, which were 7.87% and 23.63% toward S. aureus on the 14th and 21st days of storage, respectively (Fig. 2B); toward L. monocytogenes these values were 12.96 and 32.99%, respectively (Fig. 2E).
Positive inhibition rates of B. lactis toward S. aureuswas found on the 1st (16.32%), 14th (10.12%) and 21st (3.67%) days of storage (Fig. 2C). B. lactis exhibited a positive inhibition rate (3.28%) toward L.monocytogenes only on the 1st day of storage (Fig. 2F).