THE QUALITY OF FERMENTED MILK PRODUCED USING HUMAN-ORIGIN LACTIC ACID BACTERIA AS STARTERS

The aim of this experiments was to evaluate the quality of fermented milk produced using human-origin lactic acid bacteria as starters. Fermentation was performed on pasteurized cow milk added with skim milk, constituting a total solid 18%, using a separate single starter of Lactobacillus casei strain AP, Lactobacillus casei strain AG and Pediococcus acidilactici strain BE. Parameters observed were pH and acidity, nutritional quality including protein, fat and lactose content, product viscosity, and total lactic acid bacteria. The results showed that different on starter cultures utilized did not affect pH, acidity, fat, lactose and protein content of the products. Differences on LAB starters affected viscosity of the fermented products. The highest score of viscosity (4.035.66±109.69 cP) was observed on fermented product using Lactobacillus casei strain AP as starter, followed by products obtained using Pediococcus acidilactici strain BE (3.109,00±40.00) and Lactobacillus casei strain AG (3.052,33±15.27) as starter. Lactose, fat, and Protein content, acidity and pH, and total lactic acid bacteria were not significantly different between fermented products. The average of total lactic acid bacteria in fermented milk was not different between products, however the number increased during fermentation from 6.98±1.00 log10 cfu/ml to 8.15±0.61 log10 cfu/ml. As conclusion, the use of three strains of human-origin lactic acid bacteria as starter for dairy fermentation affected physical quality, but not nutritional and microbiological qualities of the products.