Purpose: To determine whether L. pentosus KCA1 can be used to create a new probiotic yogurt and the organism’s duration of survival when stored at 4 ^oC. 

Methods: Mother cultures of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus and L. pentosus KCA1 were prepared and subsequently added to a suspension of pasteurized milk. It was then incubated at 37 ^oC for 6 h, after which it was removed and placed in a refrigerator at 4 ^oC. Survival test was determined in MRS agar plate supplemented with 30 µg of tetracycline for the selective enumeration of L. pentosus KCA1 at predetermined intervals over a period of 63 days at 4 ^oC.

Results: pH decreased both in normal yogurt and probiotic yogurt and there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the pH of the two preparations. The strain showed higher viability for 49 days, indicating the presence of a sufficient number of viable bacterial cells at 4 ^oC. There were only 3 log cycle losses in the number of cells surviving from day 1 (5.6 x 10⁹ cfu/ml) to day 49 (5.5 x 10⁶ cfu/ml).

Conclusion: This study shows that yogurt has the potential to deliver biotherapeutic benefits associated with probiotic bacteria to consumers adequately.