Enhancement of low‐fat Feta cheese characteristics using probiotic bacteria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to manufacture low-fat Feta cheese (LFC) using different types of starter cultures, such as yogurt (Y) cultures (<i>Streptococcus thermophilus</i> and <i>Lactobacillus bulgaricus</i>), bifidobacterium (B) cultures (<i>Bifidobacterium bifidum</i> and <i>Bifidobacterium longum</i>), and mixed of them (Y + B) at different rates (0.4, 0.5, and 0.6%). The Y + B cultures improved the flavor and body and texture of LFC, especially at a ratio of 0.4 + 0.6% and 0.5 + 0.5%, which is similar to the typical full-fat Feta cheese. Also, the LFC maintained a higher number of probiotics and lactic acid bacteria after 30 d of storage at a range of 5 to 7 log cfu/g.