Inulin and probiotic concentration effects on fatty and linoleic conjugated acids in cream cheeses

The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the lipid profile, especially in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), in 12 cream cheese batches with different prebiotic (inulin) and probiotic (Bifidobacterium animalis and Lactobacillus acidophilus) concentrations stored for 45 days at 8 ± 0.5 °C and analyzed every 15 days. A Central Rotational Composite Design was used to establish the prebiotic and probiotic concentrations. The effect of the pre- and probiotic concentrations on CLA contents (mg g⁻¹ of fat) was verified by plotting the response surface. The linear, quadratic, and interaction coefficients of the multiple linear regression for both prebiotic and probiotics were not significant (p > 0.05). No significant changes were observed neither in the lipid profile nor in the CLA content among the different batches, in which fatty acid composition and CLA concentrations were similar to the milk used in the preparation of the cream cheese and also to the control batch.