Table 4.
Microbiological profile (log10 colony forming unit g–1; mean of three batches±standard deviation (ricotta fresca) of I manufactured in three different cheese-making plants during shelf life.
| Parameters | Plants | T0 | T7 | T14 | T21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerobic mesophilic bacteria | A | 2.43±0.21a (4/9) | 2.41±0.48a (6/9) | 4.70±1.18b (8/9) | 5.91±1.14c (9/9) |
| B | 3.56±0.69a (8/9) | 5.51±1.38b (9/9) | 7.22±0.45c (9/9) | 7.09±0.75c (9/9) | |
| C | 2.70±0.38a (9/9) | 4.16±1.81b (9/9) | 6.91±0.89c (9/9) | 7.43±0.50c (9/9) | |
| Enterobacteriaceae | A | nda (0/9) | nda (0/9) | nda (0/9) | 3.46±1.32b (2/9) |
| B | 3.09±0.00a (l/9) | 3.53±1.48a (7/9) | 5.07±l.llb (9/9) | 6.10±0.81c (9/9) | |
| C | nda (0/9) | 2.66±0.94b (6/9) | 5.06±1.03c (9/9) | 5.83±1.55c(9/9) | |
| Pseudomonas spp. | A | nda (0/9) | 3.08±0.18b (2/9) | 5.06±1.15c (6/9) | 5.99±1.24c (6/9) |
| B | 3.41±0.71a (3/9) | 5.47±1.43b (9/9) | 7.26±0.69c (9/9) | 7.21±0.43c (9/9) | |
| C | nda (0/9) | 5.92±0.80b (9/9) | 7.43±0.67c (9/9) | 7.28±1.05c (9/9) |
nd, not detectable (below the detection limit). The sampling times T0, T7, T14 and T21 refer to the days (0, 7, 14, and 21, respectively) elapsed during shelf life. The number of positive samples is within brackets.
a-cMeans in the same row with different superscript letters are significantly different (P<0.05).