Table 4.

Effect of storage temperature on the log reductions (log (N ₀/N)) of B. coagulans BC30 spores in cookies.

	Freezer temperature (−18°C)	Refrigerator temperature (4°C)	Room temperature (25°C)
	Log reductions (logN 0/N )
Day 0	2.3 ± 0.3 Ab	2.3 ± 0.3 Ac	2.3 ± 0.3 Ac
1 month	2.5 ± 0.2 Ab	2.6 ± 0.6 Abc	2.5 ± 0.4 Ac
2 months	2.6 ± 0.0 Ab	2.6 ± 0.3 Abc	2.6 ± 0.1 Abc
4 months	2.5 ± 0.5 Ab	2.6 ± 0.4 Abc	2.6 ± 0.3 Abc
6 months	2.5 ± 0.1 Ab	2.7 ± 0.2 Abc	2.7 ± 0.3 Abc
8 months	3.4 ± 0.2 Aab	3.6 ± 0.1 Aab	3.6 ± 0.2 Aab
10 months	4.0 ± 0.9 Aa∗	3.9 ± 0.6 Aa∗	4.1 ± 0.7 Aa∗
12 months	4.0 ± 0.4 Aa∗	4.0 ± 0.6 Aa∗	4.4 ± 0.4 Aa∗

Note: N ₀ is the initial dough count before baking, and N is the final count after each experiment. Different capital letters (A) in the same row denote significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in log reductions between the different holding temperatures. Different lowercase letters (a) in the same column denote significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in log reductions between the same holding temperature over the storage period. Values with an asterisk (∗) indicate below the required viability level (6 log CFU).