Developing quality new starter cultures for dairy products with health benefits

The main objective of the project is the development of a range of probiotic starter cultures for dairy products with proven health benefits.

The starter cultures are mixtures of strains that have been hand-picked for this purpose from over 500 isolated and characterized lactic acid bacteria. Researchers studied the most important health-related characteristics of the strains in the company’s collection using in-vitro systems for health benefit assessment that have become routine at L. B. Bulgaricum. ин-витро системи за оценка на здравословните ефекти.

Analyzed at the molecular level were the strains’ propensity for adhesion to the intestinal epithelium, their ability to lower cholesterol levels, their beneficial effect for the human immune system, the improvement of lactose absorption, and the reduction in harmful enzyme activity in the colon.

The project is co-funded by the National Innovation Fund (2005-2008).