The aim of this paper is to determine nutritive, functional, microbiological and sensory properties of probiotic beverages produced from different volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25). Pure cow’s milk and soy beverage served as control samples. Fermentation was performed at 43 °C by a combined culture consisting of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and yoghurt culture. Viable counts of La5 strain in the produced beverages ranged from 7.52 to 8.20 log CFU/mL, which is above the probiotic minimum (106 CFU/mL). Lactic acid was the most prevalent organic acid in all samples (660.1 to 1003.0 mg/100 mL). The fatty acid profiles of fermented beverages were as follows: the mass fraction of saturated fatty acids was 22.2–82.7 %, of unsaturated fatty acids 22.3–77.8 % and of polyunsaturated fatty acids 15.5–65.9 %. The main soy sugars were transformed well (80 % stachyose and 50 % raffinose conversion) into lactic acid during fermentation. Functional probiotic beverages were successfully produced from different volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage by L. acidophilus La5 and yoghurt culture. Mixing cow's milk with soy beverage significantly improved the sensory properties of the product, especially its smell, taste and colour. The acceptability test showed good acceptance by potential consumers of all fermented beverage samples except for the sample made from 100 % soy beverage. In the end, the obtained results represent a good basis for optimisation of the ideal volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage for production of fermented beverages characterised by good viability of probiotic bacteria as well as by good functional, nutritive and sensory characteristics.

Research background. Numerous factors affect the ripening of reduced-fat white cheese. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of ripening environment (brine or vacuum plastic bags without brine) on the chemical composition, protein, fatty acid profile and mineral content as well as antioxidant properties of industrially produced reduced-fat white cheese. Experimental approach. A low-fat white cheese was manufactured on an industrial scale from milk that remained after the production of kajmak and ripened for 60 days at 4 °C after packaging in a polystyrene container with brine containing 6 % salt or in vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags. The influence of ripening environment on proteolysis was monitored by the change of soluble nitrogen fractions as well as by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of Tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane-HCl extracts of cheese proteins under non-reducing conditions and water-soluble fractions under reducing conditions. An effect that ripening environment had on fatty acid and mineral content was also monitored. The change of antioxidant potential of the investigated cheese during ripening led to the change of iron(II) chelating ability, reducing power and free-radical scavenging activity. Results and conclusions. The ripening environment differently affected proteolysis, fatty acid composition, mineral profiles and antioxidant properties of reduced-fat white cheese. White cheese ripened in brine had more intensive proteolytic changes than the cheese ripened in a vacuum, but also more intensive diffusion processes, especially between the 40th and 60th day of ripening. The brine-ripened cheese had higher values of water-soluble nitrogen content, but lower contents of trichloroacetic acid-soluble and phosphotungstic acid-soluble nitrogen than a vacuum ripened cheese. Cheese ripened in brine had a lower content of almost all investigated macro- and microelements. After 60 days of ripening, in the cheese ripened in brine only myristic (C14:0) and palmitic acid (C16:0) were detected, whereas in a vacuum-ripened cheese C10:0-C16:0 fatty acids dominated. Vacuum-ripened reduced-fat cheese had more favourable reducing power, while white brined reduced-fat cheese had better radical scavenging activity and iron(II) chelating activity. Novelty and scientific contribution. These results suggest significant influence of ripening conditions (immersion in brine or in vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags) on nutritive and functional properties of reduced-fat white cheese. Ripening in a vacuum has become a useful method for obtaining high-value reduced-fat white cheese.

The microbiological aspects of traditional Travnik/Vlašić cheese was investigated. The cheese was made traditionally, from raw sheep milk at three small farms (A, B, C) on Mountain Vlašić. The microbiological quality of the cheese was examined during three stages of ripening (5, 30, 60 days) and followed during three seasons (3 years). Twenty-seven samples of cheese were collected and analyzed for the aerobic mesophilic count, yeasts and molds, coliforms and microorganisms from the group Staphylococcus spp. Average values determined for the number of investigated groups of microorganisms of all cheese samples throughout three different stages, seasons, and small farms were: aerobic mesophilic bacteria 8.03 log10 cfu·g-1, yeasts and molds 3.63 log10 cfu·g-1, coliforms 5.16 log10 cfu g-1, and microorganisms from the group Staphylococcus spp. 4.49 log10 cfu g-1. ANOVA showed that experimental factor ripening stage (days) had a significant effect on all testing parameters. Results obtained with this study indicate that hygiene during the production of traditional products must be increased in order to assure high quality of the final products.

Different types of traditional cheeses have a central place in the markets of southeast European countries. They are usually produced as artisanal from cow’s, sheep’s and rarely goat’s milk. In the last twenty years, these cheeses have attracted numerous researchers’ attention. Most of these investigations have been focused on the specificity of their production and the proteolytic changes that influence the nutritional and sensory properties of specific cheese varieties. Less attention has been paid to their fatty acid profiles and their possible effects on human health. Since fatty acids content in cheeses are affected by numerous factors (type of milk and its characteristics, breeding, feeding, geographical area, and the production process), it can be assumed that their fatty acid composition (profiles) is significantly different. This paper provides an overview of the current knowledge of fatty acid profiles and health-related fat indices of traditional cheeses from several southeast European countries including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Traditional dairy products, especially cheeses, represent part of the cultural food heritage of many countries. In addition, these cheeses constitute microbiological “reservoirs”, of which many have been lost due to the introduction of the pasteurization of milk in the dairy industry. Increased awareness of the importance of microorganisms that make up the biodiversity of traditional cheeses, as well as the development of molecular methods in recent decades, have enabled efforts to identify and preserve them. Traditional Livno cheese is a full-fat hard cheese, considered one of the most famous traditional cheeses of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is seasonally produced from a mixture of raw sheep’s milk supplemented with cow’s milk. Often, Livno cheese has variable quality, due to microbial contamination and poor milk quality. In this study, traditional Livno cheese was studied during the ripening of cheeses produced by different producers during two seasons. Culture-dependent analyses were made during ripening using microbiological plating on suitable media. Likewise, culture-independent methods Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) were used to elucidate the cheese microbiota. Results of analysis showed Lactococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Pediococcus spp. and Leuconostoc spp. to be dominant species in traditional Livno cheese. However, when comparing the use of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods in the evaluation of Livno cheese microbiota, Enterococcus was not detected by culture-independent DGGE methods. The microbial population of both the milk and the environment determines the fermentation processes during cheese production and ripening, and thereby defines the quality of this cheese. The numbers of bacteria in the cheese were shown to be dependent on the manufacturer, the degree of ripening and the production season.