Production of concentrated yoghurt culture using whey based media

In this investigation, growth performance of yoghurt culture was studied in a developed whey based medium (WBM) for production of cultures biomass and preservation in concentrated dried form. Growth performances (K) of yoghurt cultures in WBM were 0.765 and 0.723 for S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus. Culture biomass produced was harvested by centrifugation, re-suspended in freeze-drying medium followed by freeze drying. Viable counts of freeze dried cultures were 11–12 log cfu/g. Dry culture was packed in storage vials and stored at-20±1°C and viable counts were in the range of 11 to 12 log cfu/g. Physiochemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of yoghurt prepared using concentrate preserved culture and fresh propagated culture were comparable under refrigeration conditions till 5 days of study.