Development of Probiotic Soft Cheese and Evaluation of pH and Lactic Acid Bacteria Counts Before and After Probiotic Inoculation

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Functional food; Probiotic soft cheese; Lactobacillus plantarum; pH value; total LAB

Abstract

Probiotic foods have evolved from traditional fermented products into functional foods that offer health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Soft cheese is considered an effective carrier of probiotic microorganisms because of its favorable physicochemical properties. This study evaluated the effect of different concentrations of Lactobacillus plantarum FNCC 0026 on the pH and total lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count of probiotic soft cheese. Four formulations containing 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% starter culture were examined. The pH and total LAB counts were measured before and after LAB addition to assess acidity and probiotic viability. Total LAB data were analyzed using Two-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA, whereas pH data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test at a significance level of 5% (p < 0.05). The pH significantly decreased from 6.28–6.62 before treatment to 6.09–6.50 after LAB addition (p < 0.05), indicating increased lactic acid production during fermentation. Meanwhile, total LAB counts remained high, ranging from 7.60 to 8.39 log CFU/g, and met the minimum requirement for probiotic foods. No significant difference was observed in total LAB counts before and after treatment (p > 0.05). These findings indicate that L. plantarum FNCC 0026 maintained probiotic viability while significantly influencing product acidity. Therefore, the developed soft cheese has potential as a functional probiotic food with favorable microbial and physicochemical characteristics.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Lola Ayu Istifiani
AU  - Rahma Micho Widyanto
AU  - Luh Asmi Arisanty Dewi
AU  - Aisyah Washfa Muthi’ah
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Development of Probiotic Soft Cheese and Evaluation of pH and Lactic Acid Bacteria Counts Before and After Probiotic Inoculation
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Nursing and Health Sciences Symposium (INHSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 183
EP  - 191
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_19
ID  - Istifiani2026
ER  -