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.

Ecology of starter bacteria

So where did modern starter cultures come from? Most starters in use to today have originated from lactic acid bacteria originally present as part of the contaminating microflora of milk. These bacteria have probably originated from vegetation in the case of lactococci (Sandine et al., 1972) or the intestinal tract in the case of Bifidobacterium spp., enterococci and Lactobacillus acidophilus.

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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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The major functions of starters in dairy fermentations are shown in table 1. Further information is available in the section on starters.

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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 10-15 years, the use of starter cell concentrates designated as either Direct Vat Set (DVS) or Direct Vat Inoculation (DVI) cultures have increasing being used, particularly in small plants, to replace bulk starter in cheese manufacture. 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. This contribution while mainly concerned with DVS or DVI cultures will also comment on concentrates use in bulk starter manufacture.

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Identification of species with a biochemical key