Proteolysis in goat “coalho” cheese supplemented with probiotic lactic acid bacteria

• Proteolysis of goat cheese (coalho) enriched with probiotic lactic acid bacteria was reported for the first time.
• Probiotic bacteria presented advantages in proteolytic process of goat coalho cheese.
• Bifidobacteria showed higher proteolytic action in goat cheese (coalho).

This study aimed to analyse the proteolytic effects of adding isolated and combined probiotic strains to goat “coalho” cheese. The cheeses were: QS – with culture Start, composed by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris (R704); QLA – with Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5); QLP – with Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei (L. casei 01); QB – with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (BB 12); and QC, co-culture with the three probiotic microorganisms. The cheeses were analysed during 28 days of storage at 10 °C. The probiotic cell count was higher than 6.5 and 7 log colony-forming units (CFU) g−1 of cheese at the 1st and 28th days of storage, respectively. The addition of co-culture influenced (p < 0.01) proteolysis in the cheese and resulted in a higher content of soluble protein and release of amino acids at the 1st day after processing. However, over all 28 days, the cheese supplemented with Bifidobacterium lactis in its isolated form showed the highest proteolytic activity, particularly in the hydrolysis of the alpha-s2 and kappa-casein fractions.