Goat Cheese Produced with Sunflower ( L.) Seed Extract and a Native Culture of : Characterization and Probiotic Survival.

The microbiological and biochemical properties of a goat cheese produced using (sunflower) seed extract as a coagulant and the potentially probiotic autochthonous culture CNPC007 were examined in comparison to a control cheese devoid of the autochthonous culture. Throughout a 60-day storage period at 6 ± 1 °C, lactobacilli maintained a count of above 8 log CFU/g. Additionally, its viability in cheeses subjected to the in vitro gastrointestinal conditions demonstrated improvement over this period. Specifically, the recovery of lactobacilli above 6 log CFU/g was observed in 16.66% of the samples in the first day, increasing to 66.66% at both 30 and 60 days. While total coliforms were detected in both cheese trials, this sanitary parameter exhibited a decline in cheeses during storage, falling below the method threshold (<3 MPN/g) at 60 days. This observation suggests a potential biopreservative effect exerted by this microorganism, likely attributed to the higher acidity of cheeses at that point (1.80 g/100 g), which was twice that of the control trial (0.97 g/100 g). Furthermore, distinct relative proportions of >30 kDa, 30-20 kDa, and <20 kDa proteins during storage was verified for and control cheeses. Consequently, either the seed extract or the CNPC007 autochthonous culture influenced the biochemical properties of the cheese, particularly in terms of proteolysis. Moreover, CNPC007 acidification property resulted in a biopreservative effect throughout the storage period, indicating the potential as a promising source of probiotics for this product.