Abstract: The aim of the study was to develop a production method for tofu with probiotic bacteria under laboratory conditions. The works included: selection of a strain and tofu production conditions, and a storage test of the manufactured product.
It was concluded that the sensory quality of tofu with the addition of different probiotic cultures did not differ significantly (p>0.01), depending on used strains and their mixtures, and the sample quality was comparable to the commercial product. It was observed that the number of Lactobacillus bacteria in study samples was the factor determining the palatability of tofu (r= 0.75). On the other hand, the sensory quality of products was significantly affected by the production method of tofu with the addition of probiotic bacteria. It was concluded that the formation of curds from soy beverage by the addition of CaSO4, followed by inoculation with Lactobacillus casei ŁOCK 0900 at the amount of 9.26 log CFU/g and incubation at temp. of 37C for 2h as well as for 20h are methods recommended for production tofu with regard to sensory qualities of the final product among all tested methods. The number of lactic acid bacteria in studied tofu samples was maintained at the high level (109-1010 CFU/g), and the number of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp lactis BB-12 bacteria did not exceed 103 CFU/g, whereas the number of Lactobacillus bacteria was equal to 108-109 CFU/g. For the period of 15 days of storage of tofu with probiotic bacteria at the temperature of 4C the number of lactic acid bacteria was maintained at the constant level of approx. 109 CFU/g.
It was concluded that it is possible to produce tofu with probiotic bacteria that has acceptable sensory characteristics and a high number of lactic acid bacteria, therefore the product could be considered as a functional one.