Influence of adjunct cultures on the chemical and sensory characteristics, and proteolysis of Prato cheese was investigated. Cheeses were manufactured using a commercial starter culture and Lactobacillus strains (Lactobacillus plantarum or Lactobacillus helveticus) as adjunct cultures. Control cheeses lacked the adjunct culture. The chemical composition was analyzed at day 5 after manufacture and the proteolysis at days 5, 25, 45 and 65 of ripening. The sensory acceptance was assessed at 60 days. A split-plot design was used and the complete experiment was carried out in triplicate. The results were evaluated by ANOVA and Tukey's test test at 5% significance level. There were no significant differences in chemical composition among the cheeses. A significant increase in proteolysis occurred during ripening period for the cheeses with adjunct culture when compared to cheeses without adjunct culture. Cheese with Lactobacillus helveticus showed higher scores for flavor, texture and purchase intent compared with the others treatments. Use of adjunct Lactobacillus suggests that the proteolysis of Prato cheese should be accelerated in order to reduce ripening period. Key words: Adjunct culture, cheese, flavor, proteolysis, sensory analysis ResumoA influência de culturas adjuntas sobre as características químicas e sensoriais, e sobre a proteólise do queijo Prato foi avaliada. Os queijos foram fabricados com cultura starter comercial e cepas de Lactobacillus (Lactobacillus plantarum ou Lactobacillus helveticus) como culturas adjuntas. Os queijos controle não foram adicionados de cultura adjunta. A composição química foi analisada no dia 5 após a fabricação e a proteólise nos dias 5, 25, 45 e 65 de maturação. A aceitação sensorial foi avaliada após 60 dias. Um delineamento de parcelas subdivididas foi utilizado e o experimento completo foi realizado em triplicata. Os resultados foram avaliados pela análise de variância e teste de Tukey no nível de 5% de probabilidade. Os queijos não apresentaram diferenças significativas em relação à composição química. Um aumento significativo na proteólise ocorreu durante o período de maturação para os queijos com cultura adjunta, quando comparado aos queijos sem adição desse tipo de cultura. Os queijos com Lactobacillus helveticus apresentaram médias das notas mais altas para os atributos sabor, textura e intenção de compra em comparação aos demais tratamentos. A utilização de Lactobacillus como cultura adjunta indica que a proteólise do queijo prato pode ser acelerada a fim de reduzir o seu tempo de maturação.

Cereal bars are considered a nutritious food with sweet and pleasant taste, source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, proteins and complex carbohydrates, besides its convenience and association with healthy foods. The present work produced a cereal bar enriched with collagen, and had as objective to analyze the physical-chemical, microbiological and sensorial characteristics. Determinations of ash, acidity, proteins, fibers, moisture and pH were performed. The samples were submitted to microbiological analysis of Salmonella spp., total and thermotolerant coliforms. The results showed that the collagen-containing cereal bars had a relatively acidic pH (6.08) and could favor inhibition of growth of microorganisms. In addition, the samples presented high fiber content, a fact that adds nutritional value to the product. The cereal bars produced with collagen, presented higher protein content when compared to the bars of cereals available in the market. In the analyzes of acceptability and intention of purchase the bar with collagen presented good acceptability for the attributes of appearance and flavor. Thus, the development of cereal bars with addition of collagen becomes viable as an alternative for the development of new products with high nutrient value.