It can be difficult for entrepreneurs to obtain starter cultures for trials. This article provides contact details of some culture suppliers.

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The isolation of lactic acid bacteria from raw and pasteurized milk is discussed.

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This article discusses the origins and role of starters in dairy fermentations, the ecology of starter bacteria, the classification of starter bacteria,  the types of starter culture used and concludes with some observations on artisanal cultures. The author has  provided a broader perspective on the use of starter cultures in food fermentations in the Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology. The chapter can be downloaded from Elsevier Ltd. This article should be read in conjunction with the article  discussing the major functions of starters in dairy fermentations and the relative importance and effectiveness of the antimicrobial agents produced by starters. 

More about the microbiology of starters

Growth and acid production by starter cultures may be inhibited by bacterial viruses, bacteriophages, or added substances including antibiotics, sterilant and detergent residues, or  free fatty acids produced by or as a result of the growth of microorganisms, and natural often called indigenous antimicrobial proteins.

More about starter-inhibitors

This article discusses the background of the change in classification of the lactic streptococci to the genus Lactococcus.

The lactic group of the genus Streptococcus originally included the species Str. lactis and Str. cremoris and a subspecies of Str. lactis, Str. lactis subsp. diacetylactis (Deibel and Seeley, 1974). However, even in the 1970s workers were suggesting that Str. lactis strains might be variants of Str. diacetylactis that were unable to ferment citric acid, since citrate permease – negative strains of Str. diacetylactis had been described (Lawrence, Thomas and Terzaghi, 1976).

Bacteria in this group were designated as the lactic streptococci. The designation 'lactic' was used by Sherman (1937) for mainly historical reasons, including the use of the term by Lister (1878) to describe a bacterium that we now know as Lc. lactis subsp. lactis.

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This article discusses the major functions of starters in dairy fermentations. Recent research on the relative importance of the antimicrobial agents produced by starters is included. The importance of undissociated lactic acid is discussed with regard to the inhibition of the growth of Listeria monocyotgenes and E coli.

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What are starter concentrates?

Traditionally 'bulk starter' in liquid form was used to inoculate the milk used in the manufacture of cheese, yoghurt, buttermilk and other fermented products. Over the past 15-20 years, the use of starter cell concentrates designated as either Direct Vat Set (DVS) or Direct Vat Inoculation (DVI) cultures are increasing being used, particularly in small plants, to replace bulk starter in cheese manufacture.  DVI / DVS cultures for cheese manufacture normally contain defined blends of lactococci and Streptococcus thermophilus. These organisms respond different to salt and temperature and these differences, if not understood, can impact on cheese quality.

Note that the terms DVI and DVS are used interchangeably although particular culture suppliers will tend to use only one term.

In addition to these high activity cell concentrates, lower activity commercial cell concentrates have been used for many years to inoculate milk for bulk starter manufacture, and in the manufacture of 'long set products' that require extended incubation.

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Identification of species with a biochemical key