QUEIJO MINAS FRESCAL ELABORADO COM KEFIR E CULTURA LÁTICA: EFEITO ANTAGÔNICO FRENTE A PATÓGENOS

Abstract

The popularization of Minas Frescal cheese in Brazil implies a large production and consequently concerns related to the microbiological safety of the product. The present study aimed to verify the antagonistic action of fermented kefir milk and mesophilic lactic culture against pathogens in Minas fresh cheese. Kefir was obtained and fermented in UHT milk to obtain fermented kefir milk. Minas Frescal cheese was made with the same ingredients and under the same conditions, varying only the yeast used, 1% kefir fermented milk and 1% mesophilic lactic culture (5% L. lactis and 95% L. cremoris). Eschericia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were added separately to the cheese formulations, in addition to the control cheese, without the addition of pathogens. The products were evaluated for counting lactic acid bacteria, E. coli and S. aureus, at 0, 7, 14 and 21 days of manufacture. The lactic acid bacteria count was 7 log CFU.g-1 for the control formulations and for the formulations added with E. coli and S. aureus it ranged from 6 to 7 log CFU.g-1. Regarding the E. coli count, it was observed that Kefir was able to reduce 1.58 log cycles, while the lactic culture 0.27. Regarding the reduction of S. aureus, there was no difference (p>0.05) between formulations and time. Even with the addition of pathogens, lactic acid bacteria showed a count greater than 6 log CFU.g-1. That Kefir has been shown to reduce the count of Escherichia coli, evidencing its possible use as a biocontrol culture.