Improved Lactic Acid Bacteria Results in Better Tasting Cheeses
DENMARK - Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) provide many dairy products with the right taste, consistency and shelf life. In a new project, aroma producing LAB will be used to improve the flavour of cheeses and other dairy products, and in addition create value from dairy byproducts.Innovation Fund Denmark has invested 740,000 euros in the project, which will contribute to a more sustainable dairy industry. The project is led by the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark.
Dairy products are characterized by their unique aromas and LAB play important roles in their production. A new project aims to solve a specific problem concerning insufficient flavour formation in certain types of cheeses, a problem which arises due to limitations in the flavour forming capacity of the LAB currently being used. The goal is to develop improved LAB that perform better in the relevant industrial settings, and which should allow for consistent manufacturing of good and tasty cheeses.
Another important aspect of the project is to explore ways to integrate an LAB-based flavour forming cell factory into Arla’s production, and thereby enable production of novel milk-based products as well as add value to existing low-value dairy byproducts. The project therefore has the potential to contribute to increased sustainability of the dairies.
The National Food Institute’s Research Group for Microbial Biotechnology and Biorefining has more than 20 years of research experience within lactic acid bacteria. The research group has developed a large number of cell factories based on lactic acid bacteria, which can turn low value by-products from dairy production into valuable products.
"The project is a great opportunity to utilize the National Food Institute’s unique expertise in lactic acid bacteria to create value for Danish society and it is another good example of how university research can benefit Danish industry."
The cooperation is a unique constellation between the National Food Institute and Arla Foods/Arla Foods Ingredients.
“The project is a great opportunity to utilize the National Food Institute’s unique expertise in lactic acid bacteria to create value for Danish society and it is another good example of how university research can benefit Danish industry,” Associate Professor Christian Solem from the National Food Institute says.
"We expect that this technology will be able to solve an existing problem in our production and at the same time make the Danish dairy sector more competitive globally, which will lead to increased exports, create more jobs and improve conditions for our dairy farmers,” cheese culture expert Søren K. Lillevang from Arla Foods explains.
“The project has the potential to create new products from dairy by-products with no significant value. As such it is a unique example of how to create added value in the food value chain,” Senior R&D Manager Henrik Jørgen Andersen from ARLA Foods Ingredients adds.
TheCattleSite News Desk