# Microbiological and Sensory Quality of Artisanal Sour Cream
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Sensory Analysis of Sour Cream Samples  
#### 3.3.1 Instrumental Colour  
Table 6 presents the colour parameters for each sour cream sample, including the lightness (L*), redness/greenness (a*), and yellowish/blueness (b*). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & **Yeast** & _B. spp._ & _L. mon._ & _St. _aur._ & _Ent._ & _Sal._ & _E. coli_ & _Cl. spp._ \\  & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** & **cfu/mL** \\ \hline
1 & 72,727 & + & – & 13,636 & 973 & – & 250 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
2 & 54,545 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 80,000 & – & 3909 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
3 & 50,000 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 6364 & – & 1364 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
4 & 90,000 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 20,000 & – & 9091 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
5 & 86,364 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 15,636 & – & 11,364 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
6 & 104,545 & \textless{}10 & – & 3636 & 30,000 & – & 12,727 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
7 & 145,455 & \textless{}10 & – & 27,273 & 13,636 & – & 35 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
8 & 109,091 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 1445 & – & 180 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
9 & 90,909 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 718 & – & 409 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
10 & 50,000 & + & – & 3455 & 18,182 & – & 3636 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
11 & 55,455 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 16,364 & – & 4545 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
12 & 172,727 & + & – & \textless{}100 & 19,091 & – & 5455 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
13 & 70,909 & \textless{}10 & – & 2273 & 59,091 & – & 2727 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
14 & 54,545 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 973 & – & 255 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
15 & 107,273 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 636 & – & 150 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
16 & 81,818 & \textless{}10 & – & \textless{}100 & 10,090 & – & 4773 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline
17 & 163,636 & + & – & 1909 & 3636 & – & 955 & \textless{}10 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Results of the microbiological analysis of sour cream. The average values across all samples were 99.35 for L*, \(-\)1.93 for a*, and 15.63 for b*. The lowest L* value, indicating the least cream lustre, was recorded in sample 13 (96.72), while the highest was in sample 3 (102.33). Redness (a*) values ranged from a minimum of \(-\)3.26 in sample 14 to a maximum of \(-\)0.94 in sample 10. For the b* parameter, which reflects the yellow-blue spectrum, sample 9 showed the lowest value (8.69), and sample 8 the highest (24.14). Lightness (L*) showed minimal variability, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of just 1.75%. In contrast, a* and b* values exhibited higher variability, with CVs of 34.49% and 26.13%, respectively, indicating more pronounced differences in redness and yellowish between samples. Comparatively, [PERSON] et al. (2019), reported lower colour values in their study: L* values ranged from 82.1 to 85.4, a* values from \(-\)2.72 to \(-\)1.20, and b* values from 7.68 to 15.00. This suggests that the sour cream samples in the present study exhibited greater brightness, more intense colour characteristics, and broader variation. The colour of fermented cream is strongly influenced by its chemical composition and production process. Milk fat content is a primary factor: samples with higher fat content tend to have a more intense yellow-blue component (b*). The colour parameter L* shows a moderate positive correlation with milk fat content (r = 0.62), suggesting that higher brightness may be associated with increased fat levels. Similarly, the b* parameter exhibits a strong positive correlation (r = 0.74), indicating that samples with more intense yellow coloration tend to have higher fat content.