Preparation of Indigenous Lactic Acid Bacteria Starter Cultures for Large Scale Production of Fermented Milk

<div>Lactobacillus plantarum Dad 13, an indigenous probiotic was examined its ability to be used as a single starter culture or mixed cultures with Streptococcus thermophilus Dad 11 for milk fermentation. Both cultures were isolated from dadih, a traditional fermented buffalo milk. The purposes of this study were to produce indigenous lactic acid bacteria starter cultures using halal growth medium and evaluate their application on large scale fermented milk production. The halal medium was developed using natural compounds such as sucrose, meat peptone, mung bean sprout extract, tomato extract, and young coconut water. Meat peptone was prepared by hydrolysis of halal meat using crude bromelain. Lactic acid bacteria were grown in the halal growth medium then harvested, frozen and freeze-dried. A single freeze-dried starter culture of L. plantarum Dad 13 and frozen mixed cultures of L. plantarum Dad 13 and S. thermophilus Dad 11 were prepared for production of fermented milk drink and yogurt respectively in industrial scale. The growth of these lactic acid bacteria in halal growth medium increased the viable cell to two log cycles (109 CFU/mL) for L. plantarum Dad 13 and one log cycle for S. thermophilus Dad 11 (108 CFU/mL), respectively. The viable cell of freeze-dried L. plantarum Dad 13 and S. thermophilus Dad 11 were 7.57 x 1010 CFU/g and 6.35 x 109 CFU/g, respectively. The number of viable cells and pH of both fermented milk drink and yogurt products was relatively stable to 107 CFU/mL and 108 CFU/mL, respectively during cold storage for four to six weeks. The sensory characteristics of the products were comparable to the ones using commercial starter cultures. It can be concluded that these indigenous starter cultures can be applied for the production of probiotic fermented milk.</div>