Viable Counts of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Philippine Commercial Yogurts

Viable counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus claimed to be present in commercially available yogurts in the Philippines were determined. Seven (7) yogurt samples with three (3) replicates per sample namely: NAV, NCY, CYP, NFB, LYB, CYI, and NFJ were examined. The highest S. thermophilus count was obtained in LYB with 10.20 ± 0.06 log10 CFU/ml and lowest in CYI with 8.18 ± 0.02 log10 CFU/ml. The highest L. bulgaricus count was also found in LYB with 9.96 ± 0.01 log10 CFU/ml while CYI also had the lowest count of 8.15 ± 0.09 log10 CFU/ml. Mean LAB counts of all six (6) yogurt samples were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than CYI. The ratio of S. thermophilus to L. bulgaricus in all yogurt samples examined was about 1:1. LYB had the highest titratable acidity of 0.98% lactic acid while CYI had the lowest titratable acidity of 0.35% lactic acid. No correlation was found between viable LAB counts and titratable acidity of yogurt samples. The viable counts of S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus in all seven (7) commercial yogurts examined met the prescribed minimum viable count of 106 CFU/ml for the suggested therapeutic effects and health benefits for the consumers