Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland P61 C996.
Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland P61 C996.
J Dairy Sci. 2019 Jan;102(1):909-922. doi: 10.3168/jds.2018-15385. Epub 2018 Oct 19.
Flavor is one of the most important attributes of any fermented dairy product. Dairy consumers are known to be willing to experiment with different flavors; thus, many companies producing fermented dairy products have looked at culture manipulation as a tool for flavor diversification. The development of flavor is a complex process, originating from a combination of microbiological, biochemical, and technological aspects. A key driver of flavor is the enzymatic activities of the deliberately inoculated starter cultures, in addition to the environmental or "nonstarter" microbiota. The contribution of microbial metabolism to flavor development in fermented dairy products has been exploited for thousands of years, but the availability of the whole genome sequences of the bacteria and yeasts involved in the fermentation process and the possibilities now offered by next-generation sequencing and downstream "omics" technologies is stimulating a more knowledge-based approach to the selection of desirable cultures for flavor development. By linking genomic traits to phenotypic outputs, it is now possible to mine the metabolic diversity of starter cultures, analyze the metabolic routes to flavor compound formation, identify those strains with flavor-forming potential, and select them for possible commercial application. This approach also allows for the identification of species and strains not previously considered as potential flavor-formers, the blending of strains with complementary metabolic pathways, and the potential improvement of key technological characteristics in existing strains, strains that are at the core of the dairy industry. An in-depth knowledge of the metabolic pathways of individual strains and their interactions in mixed culture fermentations can allow starter blends to be custom-made to suit industry needs. Applying this knowledge to starter culture research programs is enabling research and development scientists to develop superior starters, expand flavor profiles, and potentially develop new products for future market expansion.
风味是任何发酵乳制品最重要的属性之一。众所周知，乳制品消费者愿意尝试不同的口味；因此，许多生产发酵乳制品的公司都将培养物的操纵视为多样化风味的工具。风味的发展是一个复杂的过程，源自微生物学、生物化学和技术方面的结合。风味的一个关键驱动因素是故意接种的发酵剂培养物的酶活性，以及环境或“非发酵剂”微生物群。微生物代谢对发酵乳制品中风味发展的贡献已经被利用了几千年，但涉及发酵过程的细菌和酵母的全基因组序列的可用性以及下一代测序和下游“组学”技术提供的可能性，正在刺激一种更基于知识的方法来选择用于风味开发的理想培养物。通过将基因组特征与表型输出联系起来，现在可以挖掘发酵剂培养物的代谢多样性，分析风味化合物形成的代谢途径，识别具有风味形成潜力的菌株，并选择它们用于可能的商业应用。这种方法还可以识别以前不被认为是潜在风味形成者的物种和菌株，混合具有互补代谢途径的菌株，并有可能改善现有菌株的关键技术特性，这些菌株是乳制品行业的核心。深入了解单个菌株的代谢途径及其在混合培养发酵中的相互作用，可以使启动器混合物根据行业需求进行定制。将这些知识应用于启动器培养物研究计划，使研究和开发科学家能够开发出优越的启动器，扩展风味谱，并有可能为未来的市场扩张开发新产品。
