Table 8.

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

	Freezer temperature (−18°C)	Refrigerator temperature (4°C)	Room temperature (25°C)
	Log reductions (log (N 0/N))
Day 0	1.9 ± 0.2 Ac	1.9 ± 0.2 Ac	1.9 ± 0.2 Ac
1 month	2.2 ± 0.7 Ac	2.4 ± 0.8 Abc	2.5 ± 0.8 Abc
2 months	2.6 ± 0.2 Abc	2.3 ± 0.3 Abc	2.3 ± 0.6 Abc
4 months	2.3 ± 0.1 Ac	2.2 ± 0.1 Abc	2.2 ± 0.2 Abc
6 months	2.6 ± 0.7 Abc	2.3 ± 0.2 Abc	2.2 ± 0.5 Abc
8 months	3.0 ± 0.4 Aab	3.4 ± 0.1 Aab	3.4 ± 0.2 Aab
10 months	3.8 ± 0.8 Aab∗	4.2 ± 0.7 Aa∗	4.2 ± 0.6 Aa∗
12 months	4.4 ± 0.6 Aa∗	4.5 ± 0.8 Aa∗	4.5 ± 0.8 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).