Development of probiotic cheese manufactured from goat milk: response surface analysis via technological manipulation

Production of caprine milk has been rising steadily, partially because of its good nutritional value; the possibility of improving nutritional benefits by adding probiotic species such as Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus acidophilus was assessed. The manufacturing process of a traditional semi-hard goat cheese was technologically modified to optimize the process. The amount of starter inoculum, the concentration of salt, the addition of a protein hydrolysate, and the ripening time were varied to improve the microbiological, biochemical, and sensory properties of the cheese. Bifidobacterium lactis was able to grow slightly (up to 3 × 10⁸ cfu/g), but growth was dependent on the physicochemical characteristics of the cheese. Lactobacillus acidophilus did not grow substantially in any of the experimental cheeses, and maximum numbers did not exceed 6 × 10⁷ cfu/g. Concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid increased throughout cheese manufacture, indicating that production of these acids was uncoupled from growth. Viability of the probiotic strains during ripening was sufficient to yield numbers that were above the accepted threshold (10⁶ cfu/g) for a probiotic effect. Both strains contributed significantly to ripening, especially in the formation of low molecular mass peptides and amino acids, but lipolysis was not greatly affected. Statistical analyses using response surface methodology indicated that the manufacture of goat cheese could be optimized by the addition of 0.30% (vol/wt) milk hydrolysate, 3 × 10⁷ of viable B. lactis and 7 × 10⁶ of viable L. acidophilus cells/ml of milk, respectively, 3.50% (wt/wt) salt, and ripening for 70 d.