STARTERS AND THEIR USE

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 33 (Supplement)

STARTERS AND THEIR USE

MAINTENANCE OF CULTURE IMPORTANCE IN CHEESEMAKING. FURTHER INQUIRY NECESSARY. The development of the use of starters in the early part of the present century made possible a better control of acid development in the cheese vat; but there are still difficulties with which every factory manager is familiar. The' work in the institute factory focussed still more attention on the necessity of regular and steady acid development in the cheese vat. Methods for the maintenance of starters and an investigation of the factors affecting their growth in milk have therefore been given a great deal of attention. A starter culture needs delicate handling if it is to be kept free from contamination and given a reasonable chance to act satisfactorily. It soon became evident that most factory managers did not have proper facilities to maintain starter cultures. During the last few years, therefore, attention has been directed to this question, and as a preliminary step an apparatus has been devised which will enable three or four, mother cultures to be kept in a factory under conditions which minimise the risk of infection and tend towards the maintenance of activity. The problem is yet far from a complete solution, however. Even under apparently ideal conditions, starter cultures sometimes suffer a sudden loss in vitality; and a step towards a solution of the problem was made at the institute when it was discovered that some starters are sensitive to an excess of dissolved oxygen in the milk in which they.: are grown. Provision was ' made in" .the starter apparatus designed for vise in factories, to make conditions as suitable as possible from this point of. view. STARTER VITALITY. With a view to helping cheesemakers to distinguish between satisfactory and unsatisfactory starters which appeared the same in milk cultures, a simple test was devised which has already proved very useful in the determination . of starter vitality. . Some progress has.. therefore- been made towards the ideal of a complete control of the action of the starter in the cheese vat; but we are yet far from a complete understanding of the vagaries of starter cultures. Work at the institute and in other countries is giving a slow but sure advance in this direction, and we may eventually see the cheesemaker relieved of one of his greatest worries. STARTER GERMS AND RIPENING. Work has been prosecuted to elucidate the part (if any) played by the starter germs in the process of cheese ripening. It is almost certain that some bacteria are responsible for the flavour typical of cheddar cheese; and it should be possible consciously to develop and control flavour. No results capable of practical application have been evolved from the; work as yet; but useful knowledge is being accumulated, and, as with much work of this type, the applications may become evident in unexpected directions.