Lactic acid bacteria starter cultures

Wouters, D., Bernaert, N., Anno, N., et al. (2013) Application and validation of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria starter cultures for controlled leek fermentations and their influence on the antioxidant properties of leek. Int J Food Microbiol 165, 121-133. 

Laino, J.E., LeBlanc, J.G., and Savoy de Giori, G. (2012) Production of natural folates by lactic acid bacteria starter cultures isolated from artisanal Aigentinean yogurts. Can J Microbiol 58, 581-588. 

Selected Lactic acid bacteria Live cultures (starters and probiotics)... 

Ray, B. 1992. Acetic, propionic, and lactic acids of starter culture bacteria as biopreservatives. In Food Preservatives of Microbial Origin. B. Ray and M. Daeschel (Eds.), pp. 103-136. Boca Raton, FL CRC Press. 

Many dairy products are made through the process of fermentation. The quality of such products depends strongly on the cultures used with fermentation. The functional micro-organisms involved in these processes may have very different properties, but they are often lactic acid bacteria. Those cultures are referred to as starters . 

Yeast and culture starter Lactobacillus bulgaricus Lactic acid bacteria Cheese and yoghurt production... 

The primary function of cheese starter cultures is to produce lactic acid at a predictable and dependable rate. The metabolism of lactose is summarized in Figure 10.12. Most cheese starters are homofermentative, i.e. produce only lactic acid, usually the L-isomer Leuconostoc species are heterofermentative. The products of lactic acid bacteria are summarized in Table 10.4. 

Commercial 0. oeni strains are selected for their oenological parameters, including the absence of amino acid decarboxylases. According to the in vitro studies done by Moreno-Arribas et al. (2003), none of the four commercial malolactic starter cultures tested could produce histamine, tyramine or putrescine. Martln-Alvarez et al. (2006) also compared inoculation with spontaneous malolactic fermentation in 224 samples of Spanish red wine. They found that inoculation with a commercial starter culture of lactic acid bacteria could reduce the incidence of biogenic amines compared to spontaneous malolactic fermentation in wines. Starter cultures could eliminate indigenous bacteria, or could possibly degrade the biogenic amines produced by the undesirable strains. 

Cell mass Yeast, lactic acid bacteria, single cell protein Used as starter cultures, animal feed... 

Foods that include the incorporation of microbial metabolites as part of their production are an intricate component of the world s food supply and for ethical and sensory-nutritional reasons it is essential for all the world s population to have access to this form of food. It is a process that has been in use since the early history of mankind. An Egyptian pot dating from 2300 BC (McGee, 1984) was found to contain residues of cheese and in passages in the Bible the use of some kind of fermentative starter culture is indicated. It is, therefore, possible that the use of bacteria such as the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) dates back at least four to five thousand years, although the exact principle behind the process may not have been known to the civilizations of those times (Davidson et al., 1995). Production of fermented foods, where organisms such as the LAB are involved, is a technological process that has been used for centuries at least (Herreros et al., 2005). 

Gelman, A., Drabkin, V., and Glatman, L. 2000. Evaluation of lactic acid bacteria, isolated from lightly preserved fish products, as starter cultures for new fish-based food products. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies 1 219-226. 

Lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria are preferred as protective and probiotic cultures, and have been used since the beginning of history as starter cultures. They have a long history of being safely used and consumed. LAB are widely used for fermentation of milk, meat, and vegetable foods. In fermentation of dairy products, lactose is metabolized to lactic acid. Other metabolic products, hydrogen peroxide, diacetyl, and bacteriocins may also play inhibitory roles and contribute to improving the organoleptic attributes of these foods, as well as their preservation (Messens and De Vuyst, 2002). 

The cream used for butter may be fresh ( pH 6.6) or ripened (fermented pH 4.6), yielding sweet-cream and ripened cream (lactic) butter, respectively. Sweet-cream butter is most common in English-speaking countries but ripened cream butter is more popular elsewhere. Traditionally, the cream for ripened cream butter was fermented by the natural microflora, which was variable. Product quality and consistency were improved by the introduction in the 1880s of cultures (starters) of selected lactic acid bacteria, which produce lactic acid from lactose and diacetyl (the principal flavour component in ripened cream butter) from citric acid, A flavour concentrate, containing lactic acid and diacetyl, is now frequently used in the manufacture of ripened cream butter, to facilitate production schedules and improve consistency. 

Shortly after their development in the 1940s, antibiotics were used in veterinary medicine, first to prevent or treat mastitis in cows and later for the treatment of other diseases. Initial concern about antibiotic residues in milk was not a public health issue but came from dairy processors who noticed inhibition of starter cultures used in the production of cheese and yogurt, thus generating a need for screening tests to examine milk for antibiotic residues. " Since inhibition of starter cultures by penicillin in milk was the main problem, the earliest microbial inhibition assays were based on growth inhibition of lactic acid bacteria. Spores of Bacillus species were also utilized spores are easier to handle and far more stable than the vegetative cells. 

Buckenhiiskes HJ (1993) Selection criteria for lactic acid bacteria to be used as starter cultures for various food commodities. FEMS Microbiol Rev 12 253-271... 

Leroy, F. and De Vuyst, L. (2004) Lactic acid bacteria as functional starter cultures for the food fermentation industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol, 15, Bl-IR. 

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