Selective enumeration of probiotic microorganisms in cheese

Cheese is a dairy product which has a good potential for delivery of probiotic microorganisms into the human intestine. To be considered to offer probiotic health benefits, probiotics must remain viable in food products above a threshold level (e.g., 10⁶ cfu g⁻¹) until the time of consumption. In order to ensure that a minimal number of probiotic bacteria is present in the cheese, reliable methods for enumeration are required. The choice of culture medium for selective enumeration of probiotic strains in combination with starters depends on the product matrix, the target group and the taxonomic diversity of the bacterial background flora in the product. Enumeration protocol should be designed as a function of the target microorganism(s) to be quantified in the cheese. An overview of some series of culture media for selective enumeration of commercial probiotic cultures is presented in this review.