PCA of fluorescent RAP-PCR amplicon profiles obtained from RNA extracted from defined mixed culture fermentation of pasteurized whole milk pretreated with different acidification and neutralization procedures. WR is the pasteurized whole milk reference profile; WCN is whole milk acidified with CO₂ and neutralized with NaOH; WCC is whole milk acidified with CO₂ then neutralized with Na₂CO₃; WCA is whole milk acidified with CO₂ and neutralized by agitation; and WHN is whole milk acidified with HCl and neutralized with NaOH. Gray shading represents the clustering of the three experimental repetitions (●) inside an ellipse which represents a confidence level of 95%. (□) Cluster’s barycenter.