Table 2.

Total viable counts at different times of oral (I–V) and vaginal (VI–IX) products containing Lactobacillus spp. strains during storage.

Products	Oral products														Vaginal products
	I					II	III				IV		V		VI	VII	VIII	IX
Dosage form*	Sachet 1†	Sachet 2†	Capsule 1†	Capsule 2†	Drops	Sachet	Sachet 1†	Sachet 1†	Capsule	Tablet	Tablet	Drops	Tablet	Drops	Vaginal capsule	Vaginal capsule	Vaginal capsule	Vaginal capsule
T1 CFU/dose	2.7×109a	6.2×109	2.9×109	6.4×109	5.2×109	5.2×109a	7.8×109	22.1×109a	22.3×109	23.5×109	3.0×108c	2.7×108c	3.1×108c	3.5×108c	7.5×108c	6.8×108c	1.5×107	4.6×107
T2 CFU/dose	2.5×109a	5.7×109	2.8×109	5.9×109	4.8×109	4.5×109b	7.7×109	20.0×109b	20.3×109b	21.0×109a	2.5×108c	2.3×10c	2.8×108c	3.0×108c	6.5×108c	6.0×108c	1.0×107	4.0×107
Product label CFU/dose	3.0×109	6.0×109	3.0×109	6.0×109	5.0×109	6.0×109	⩾8.0×109	⩾24.0×109	⩾24.0×109	⩾24.0×109	1.0×108	1.0×108	1.0×108	1.0×108	1.0×108	1.0×108	N/A	N/A

N/A, not applicable; T₁, half shelf life; T₂, 3 months to deadline.

^*Dosage of different formulations= one sachet (powder), one capsule, one tablet, one vaginal capsule, five drops.

^†Same formulation with different CFU/dose.

Statistically significant difference between T₁ and label and between T₂ and label: ^aP ⩽0.05; ^bP ⩽0.001; ^cP ⩽0.0001.

Not statistically significant values are not indicated. For the products VIII and IX ANOVA test cannot be applied.