Adjunct Cultures from Non-Starter Lactic Acid Bacteria

Abstract

Non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) are relevant components of cheese microbiota because they represent an adventitious group of lactic acid bacteria that can develop during ripening up to high levels. They have been identified as responsible for some cheese defects, but their presence has also been linked to positive flavour development in most varieties of ripened cheese. For that, the use of adjunct cultures of selected NSLAB strains, mainly mesophilic lactobacilli isolated from good quality cheeses, have been proposed as a strategy to improve the cheese flavour development. In addition, several other beneficial properties have been found in strains from NSLAB origin, such as probiotic potential, production of bacteriocins controlling pathogens and adventitious organisms, production of bioactive peptides, and decrease of the levels of biogenic amines, among other properties, which strengthen the interest for their use as adjunct cultures in cheeses. Besides knowledge about technological or probiotic properties, the industrial application of beneficial strains requires the development of formulations with high cell concentrations. To this end, efficient culture and preservation methodologies should be applied, such as freeze drying, freezing or spray drying, aspects that have been less explored. This chapter focuseson the use of NSLAB strains as adjunct cultures in cheeses and aims at highlighting their potentials and applications. The results obtained in our institute about this topic have been summarised.