This study was carried out to explore the growth manner and viability of L.
acidophilus, B. longum and L. casei used lactic acid culture for the manufacture of
unsalted Kareish cheese during 15 days of cold storage at 7°C±1. There were no
significant variation in all cheese treatments in there content of fat (4.8-4.9%), total
solid (23-25%) and cheese yield (about 24%). Similar curd tension was found in all
cheese curd which indicated a complete coagulation resulting in a firm curd. There
were no differences in fresh cheese acidity (1.5-1.6%) however, Acidophilus-cheese
resulted in a slightly higher acidity (1.9%) at the end of storage period. The curd
synersis rate was significantly different among all treatment during 6 hours of drainage
in the descending order acidophilus, casei, Control and longum. The cheese TVF A
gradually increased in all cheese treatments throughout the storage period, however
the acidophilus and longum-cheese had the highest and the lowest TVFA content at
the end of storage period. The microbiological analysis showed comparable total,
streptococci and lactobacilli bacterial counts among all cheese treatments during
storage period. The viability of L. acidop < /em>hilus and L. casei was higher (10⁹ CFU/g
cheese) than B. longum (10⁶ cfu/g cheese) after 15 days of storaqe. No yeasts or
moulds were detected in the fresh cheese or after 5 days of storage. They appeared
after 10 days of storc:ge (1.2-2.8 X10³ cfu/g) and significantly increased by 2 log
cycles (1.1-1.3X10⁵ cfu/g) at the end of storage period with no significant differences
among all cheese treatments. The sensory evaluation of cheese demonstrated
acceptable sensory properties for fresh cheese (0.93-0.96). or after 15 days of
storage (0.91-0.95). The Longum-cheese gained the highest organoleptic score in
spite of appearance of a slight acetic acid flavour, whereas the acidophilus-cheese
gained the lowest score accompanied with a moderate sour taste.