Bacterium that extends food storage has been discovered
Bacterium that extends food storage has been discovered

Video: Bacterium that extends food storage has been discovered

Video: Bacterium that extends food storage has been discovered
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A bacterium lactic which stretches the food preservation, and which helps reduce food waste because it is obtained with dairy processing waste: two birds with one stone. This is the discovery made by some researchers of the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark. According to a post published this week on the university's website, scientists have created a natural lactic acid bacteria that secretes nisin, an antimicrobial peptide, when grown on dairy waste.

This discovery has a couple of different applications. First of all, as the university blog writes, “the nisin it is suitable for use in numerous foods, where it can prevent the growth of some deteriorating and pathogenic microorganisms. For example, it can inhibit the germination of spores in canned soups and the butyric fermentation in the cheeses, without altering the flavor.

In addition to extending the life of foods, nisin can help make use of existing inefficiencies in dairy production. Large quantities of whey remain unused during the cheese-making process, and as the researchers point out, this leftover whey can now be used to create nisin.

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