Viability of commercial probiotic cultures in cottage cheese containing black cumin seed

In this study, the effect of black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa) was investigated on the viability of commercial probiotic cultures added to cottage cheese. Physicochemical and sensory properties of the probiotic cottage cheeses were also studied. The probiotic cottage cheeses were produced by incorporating of Bifidobacterium animalis or Lactobacillus casei and different levels of the black cumin seeds (0, 1, and 2%) and then stored at refrigerated temperature for 25 days. The population of the probiotic strains added to the flavored cottage cheeses was slightly increased during storage compared with the control cheeses. Enumeration results showed that the counts of Lactobacillus casei were higher than those of B. animalis during storage. Some of physicochemical properties of the samples changed by addition of the black cumin seeds, as significantly. Addition of black cumin seeds had a significant difference between flavored and control cheeses. Our results indicated that by addition of black cumin seed can produce a probiotic cottage cheese with improved taste and acceptability.