Incorporation of encapsulated Lactobacillus casei into type curd cheese

Abstract

Introduction: The cheese type curd is a typical food of the northeastern region of Brazil, and its physical-chemical characteristics allows the incorporation of probiotic microorganisms, although few studies have explored this possibility.

Objective: This work aims to evaluate the cell adhesiveness of Lactobacillus casei by its hydrophobicity characteristic and to investigate the incorporation of this micro-organism in both free form and encapsulated in calcium alginate in the curd cheese type.

Materials and Methods: Initially we investigated the characteristics of cell adhesion of Lactobacillus casei, by testing polarity using xylol (nonpolar), chloroform (acid) and ethyl acetate (basic). For cell growth of the micro-organism it was prepared a culture medium based on whey, which was microencapsulated in calcium alginate and dry to 35ºC. The dried microcapsules, as well the free Lactobacillus casei cells, were incorporated during the preparation of the cheese.

Results: According to the results, it was possible to achieve a high cell concentration in the culture medium based on whey (10⁸ UFC/mL), decreasing one logarithmic cycle during the drying and microencapsulation. The cheeses had counts of lactic acid bacteria after 10 days of maturation of 1,4x10⁸ UFC/g (cheese with free Lactobacillus casei) and 9,1x10⁷ UFC/g (cheese with microencapsulate Lactobacillus casei).

Conclusions: Thus, cheeses made with the introduction of both forms of Lactobacillus casei showed viable cell concentrations considered adequate for food probiotics. It can be concluded that the cheese type curd is a product with characteristics of interest for the incorporation of probiotic microorganisms.