Abstract: A novel strain, Lactobacillus sp. AS-1 (ATCC No. 55326) for use in inhibiting bacteria in foods, particularly at refrigeration temperatures. Lactobacillus sp. AS-1 (ATCC No. 55326) is particularly effective in inhibiting bacteria present in raw milk and pasteurized milk.

Abstract: Process for the preparation of a fermented food product for animals, in which a finely divided and emulsified mixture comprising a collagenic material, a protein material and milk is pasteurized while homogenizing constantly, and then it is fermented by lactic acid bacteria. The invention also relates to the product derived from the process.

Abstract: Method of preparing cheese for distribution through first concentrating milk through separation of the whey and then adding additives necessary for cheese production, e.g. rennet, and packaging in distribution-ready packagings. Through concentrating the milk to such an extent that it is given the same DM content as is desired in the finished cheese (what is known as full concentration) the milk and the added additives can be packaged in such a manner that both the coagulation of the milk and forming and maturing of the cheese essentially occur entirely in the packagings.

Abstract: A food composition of the type containing a cookie or a chocolate shell and a filling based on a dairy product wherein the filling is fermented and contains live lactic acid bacteria, has a water activity (Aw) of between 0.75 and 0.81 and wherein the fat content of the filling is such that it makes it possible to obtain a water-in-oil type emulsion.

Abstract: The immobilized enzyme for removal of residual cyclodextrins is either a combination of an alpha-amylase and a CGTase which has been immobilized or a fungal alpha-amylase which has been immobilized. In addition to either the fungal alpha-amylase or the CGTase and alpha-amylase, a debranching enzyme can also be employed. When using a debranched enzyme, the debranched enzyme is also immobilized. By using the immobilized enzyme, the step of inactivating the enzyme is eliminated and the contamination due to the inactivated enzyme is also eliminated.

Abstract: A method of producing cheese-type food from powdered milk as a starting material, prepared by ultrafiltrating milk, adjusting the ultrafiltrated milk to pH 5.0-5.8 and by spray-drying it, which is then heated and melted with an addition of emulsifying salts. Also a method or producing aged-type cheese by ripening green cheese processed from powdered milk, prepared by adding lactic-acid bacteria starter to ultrafiltrated milk and dried.

Abstract: The present invention is drawn to a process for manufacturing reduced-fat cheeses. In particular, the present invention is a process for the manufacture of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese. The process is characterized in that the initial coagulum is cut at a firmer state than in conventional Cheddar cheeses, the whey is drained from the curds at a relatively high pH, and the pH is maintained at a high level at the time the curd is milled and salted. The curds are neither washed nor rinsed with water during the process.

Abstract: Lactic acid bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus having the following specific properties: (1) an increased amount of acidity of lactic acid when storing a product cultured by the bacteria at 10.degree. C. for two weeks being 0.5% or less; (2) an activity of cell membrane bound adenosine triphosphatase being 5 .mu.mol.multidot.Pi/min/mg protein or less; and (3) the bacteria having neomycin resistance.

Abstract: The process entails treating a system such as a food system which contains residual cyclodextrin with both CGTase and an amylase at a temperature of 40.degree. C. to 80.degree. C., a pH of 4 to 6 for a time of 1 to 48 hours to hydrolyze the residual cyclodextrin. The process is especially adapted for food systems such as eggs, dairy, meat, fruit juices, coffee and tea. It is also suited for use in starch hydrolysates and protein hydrolysates. Residual cyclodextrins are contained in a system after the system has been subjected to a process wherein cyclodextrins have been employed either to remove an unwanted component or where the cyclodextrin was separated from the system.

Abstract: A low-fat natural cheese is manufactured from skim milk or skim milk cheese. In one embodiment of the invention, a gel-forming fat mimetic is added to skim milk to provide a cheese substrate. The gel-forming fat mimetic may be gelled in situ or may be pregelled. The cheese substrate is then subjected to a cheese make procedure to provide a cheese curd. The cheese curd is then cured to provide a low-fat skim milk cheese. The skim milk cheese is comminuted and heated to a temperature of from about 140.degree. F. to about 180.degree. F. for a period of time sufficient to provide a homogeneous cheese mass. The cheese mass is then packaged to provide a low-fat natural cheese.

Abstract: Fermented milk with a controlled acidity increase during storage and transportation is disclosed. The fermented milk can be manufactured by inoculating raw milk with a nisin-producing lactic acid bacterium belonging to the genus Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis together with other lactic acid bacteria to be used for the fermentation and fermenting the raw milk. Nisin produced and accumulated in the fermented milk suppresses the growth of bacteria which are involved in the formation of acids, thus controlling the acidity increase during storage and transportation.

Abstract: A plastein material is made by reversing the normal hydrolytic activity of a serine protease. The protease produces a plastein material by acting on a proteinaceous substrate. The substrate is preferably whey, casein or soy protein.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for producing foods and beverages having a desirable flavor which comprises bringing an animal-derived, ethyl butyrate-synthesizing enzyme having a potency in the range of 0.1 unit/mg protein or higher under the conditions that ethyl butyrate is formed by reacting 0.5% (w/w) ethanol with 2.6% (w/w) butyric acid, or a substance containing the enzyme into contact with the foods and beverages during their production process.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for manufacturing a block of pasta filata cheese of desired size and configuration, e.g., a 680-pound block, from finished pieces of pasta filata of typical size which may be about five pounds each. The method includes milling the finished pieces into shreds, filling the shreds into a cheese box to form a cheese mass, and while in the cheese box, applying pressure to the cheese mass, vacuuming and draining the cheese mass, and curing the cheese mass to form the desired block which can be used for a variety of end uses such as retail, slices, or food service.

Abstract: A process for the preparation of yogurt based freeze-dried foodstuffs, said process being characterized in that it comprises the steps of cold mixing the ingredients homogeneously; prefreezing the ingredients and adding to them a gas at a percentage in the range between 10 and 50% of the initial volume of said ingredients, shaping the product so obtained into the desired shape; deep-freezing the product so shaped at a temperature between -20.degree. C. and -40.degree. C.; and freeze-drying the product so obtained down to a residual moisture between 3% and 8% as determined by the Karl Fisher method. The invention also relates to the products so obtained.

Abstract: The invention discloses a colostrum fraction having a low endotoxin, protein and immunoglobulin concentration. The colostrum fraction is prepared by ultrafiltration of defatted colostrum pretreated in a desired manner by using a membrane having a molecular weight cut off of 100,000 daltons. The invention also discloses the use of the colostrum fraction as a supplement in cell culture media.

Abstract: An improved, short-time process for fermentation of comestible products is described which enhances the growth of operative microorganisms in a fermentation system and consequently reduces the required incubation time. The process involves inoculating a given fermentation system containing a starting food ingredient substrate and fermentative microorganism(s) with an amount of an oxygen-reactive enzyme such as OXYRASE.TM. (a trademark of Oxyrase, Inc. of Akron, Ohio) which is not naturally generated by virtue of said fermentation process. Reduced time fermentation can be achieved in a wide variety of systems, such as in the production of fermented liquid, semisolid and solid dairy products, fermented meat products, fermented cereal-based products, yeast-raised baked and fried products, and alcoholic beverages.

Abstract: A cultured milk beverage contains at least 3.times.10.sup.8 cells/ml of at least one type of lactic acid bacterium selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus jugurti and a mixture of a galactooligosaccharide, which is represented by the following formula:Gal-(Gal).sub.n -Glcwherein Gal means a galactose residual group, Glc denotes a glucose residual group, and n stands for an integer of 1-4, and a galactosyldisaccharide represented by the following formula:Gal-Rwherein R means a galactose residual group or a glucose residual group, and Gal has the same meaning as defined above, said galactosyldisaccharide being other than lactose. The cultured milk beverage can be produced providing the lactic acid bacterium and culturing the same to a population of at least 3.times.10.sup.

Abstract: A flavorant composition is prepared by dispersing blue cheese in an aqueous medium containing a buffering agent and then incubating the dispersion with spores of Penicillium roquefortii and with lipase and protease enzymes to hydrolyze and metabolize the cheese.

Abstract: A method of convening pasteurized milk into a fermented milk comprises high-temperature heat treatment of the pasteurized milk, followed by carbonation of the heat-treated milk with CO.sub.2 gas, then adding a starter culture to the carbonated milk, followed by incubation of the inoculated milk.

Abstract: A substitute milk product that is produced from a base product including milk ingredients only. The base product is dairy whey that is purified to eliminate the contaminants introduced in the cheese making process. The base product is altered as necessary to restructure the desired ratio of lactose and protein and to re-balance the pH to that of milk. Substitute materials are added for replacing the fat content and to recapture the desired taste, texture and appearance of milk.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the preparation of a fermented milk product, such as yoghurt, wherein milk is incubated with a thermophilic Lactobacillus, followed by destroying of the Lactobacillus and optionally adding non-incubated milk, and wherein the milk is then incubated with a Streptococcus.

Abstract: Enzymatic protein process removing objectionable odor and offensive taste from natural proteins and the bland, odor-free products produced thereby.

Abstract: A cheese product having a low level of saturated fat and cholesterol, a high level of polyunsaturated fat and good organoleptic properties is prepared by adding a fat-based cream to skim, semi-skimmed or low fat milk to a cheese vat and processing using conventional techniques to form cheese. The cream is prepared by adding a blend of vegetable pasteurized oils such as soya oil and hydrogenated soya oil and an emulsifier to an aqueous phase comprising a pasteurized blend of water and a stabilizer such as gelatin. The fat-in-water emulsion thus formed is then blended and homogenized to form the cream.

Abstract: A process for the preparation of a yoghurt flavor, comprising the fermentation of a whey medium comprising water and whey solids, with a conventional bacterial yoghurt starter culture.

Abstract: Yogurt is prepared by inoculating and fermenting a milk with a strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and a lac(-) mutant strain of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the DNA of which has a deletion of at least part of the .beta.-galactosidase gene.

Abstract: Soured, water-continuous creams that are free of emulsifiers and that contain 5-15 wt % of at least a vegetable fat and that further contain a protein component and a thickener composition were found to be stable and spoonable.

Abstract: Improved process for manufacturing dairy products, characterized by the fact that it comprises the use of an effective amount of at least one of the gluconic and glucoheptonic ions at the latest at the time at which there is a risk of the occurrence of phagic attack of said ferments.

Abstract: An enzymatic hydrolysate having a high di- and tripeptide content is prepared by subjecting to enzymatic proteolysis a protein mixture preliminarily prepared by means of a thermal treatment. The hydrolysate having a high di- and tripeptide content is extracted by liquid-solid separation, followed by ultrafiltration. The hydrolysate is then subjected to a sterilization and drying operation.

Abstract: A process for treating waste water produced in a cheesemaking operation. The process comprises treating a milk product so as to form a curd, subjecting the curd to an elevated temperature while in contact with water and separating the curd from a water-containing material including milk fats. The process further includes subjecting the water-containing material to microfiltration in a microfilter so as to produce a concentrate rich in the milk fats and a permeate, and recovering the concentrate and the permeate.

Abstract: A lactose-hydrolyzed fluid milk comprising fluid milk, the normal lactose content of which has been reduced by at least about 70% by lactase hydrolysis, having incorporated therein from about 0.01 to about 0.15% by weight of potassium chloride, a process for its preparation and a method of suppressing perceived sweetness of lactose-hydrolyzed milk by incorporating therein potassium chloride.

Abstract: A natural or synthetic glycerol oil which comprises at least 20% by weight, preferably at least 25% of di-linoleoyl-mono-gamma-linolenyl-glycerol (DLMG), is used to supplement foods, nutritional compositions and in skin and hair care compositions.

Abstract: Bioactive agents, having growth-promoting activity upon Bifidobacteria, consisting of one or more lactoferrin-compounds selected from the group consisting of bovine lactoferrin, bovine apolactoferrin and bovine Fe-lactoferrin, which can be used as it is as agents to promote proliferation of Bifidobacteria both in vivo and in vitro, and as additives to prepare compositions, materials and products to afford growth-promoting activity thereto, and to improve survivability of Bifidobacteria, if contained therein.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of selectively degrading .beta.-lactoglobulin contained in cow's milk-serum protein by using a specific enzyme capable of selectively degrading .beta.-lactoglobulin.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of preparing thickener-free consumption ice or ice cream from a mixture of fermented milk constituents, including whey protein-rich products, and sugars, and optionally emulsifying agents, flavoring material and other conventional components by mixing the ingredients and freezing the mixture under aeration in a conventional manner. The method according to the invention is characterized by starting from a mixture of milk constituents in which the ratio of whey proteins to casein proteins is at least 50:50, fermenting said mixture to a pH between pH 4.3 and pH 5.5 and, after mixing all ingredients, aerating the mix in said pH range and freezing it to form ice cream with an overrun of at least 80% by volume, particularly at least 100% and wherein the mix is pasteurized before freezing and after fermentation.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for preparing dairy products with a low content of sterols, particularly of cholesterol, characterized in that it consists essentially of contacting an oil-in-water emulsion comprising dairy fats with cyclodextrin in sufficient amount to form inclusion complexes with the sterols so that the latter can be extracted from the fat, and simultaneously or not, separating at least partly said complexes from the medium without inverting the starting oil-in-water emulsion.

Abstract: A metabolite material of propionibacteria is added to a food product to inhibit the growth of yeast. The metabolite material is produced by growing propionibacteria cells in a liquid growth medium to produce a mixture containing the metabolite material. The mixture can be concentrated and added to a food product as a concentrated liquid or powder. The metabolite material added to a food product may contain viable cells of propionibacteria.

Abstract: A bacteriocin or polypeptide (LL-2 SEQ ID NO:2) derived from Lactococcus lactis subspecies lactis NRRL-B-18809 is described. Sequenced DNA and polypeptide precursor encoded thereby (SEQ ID NO: 1) are described Methods of use and production of the polypeptide LL-2 are described.

Abstract: A method of producing cheese by ripening the cheese under high pressure, e.g. between 100 to 2500 kg/cm.sup.2. Ripening the cheese under high pressure significantly shortens the period of time required for ripening, while having no adverse effect on the flavor and testure of the cheese as compared to cheese ripened in the conventional manner. Ripening the cheese also reduces the proliferation of contaminant microorganisms.

Abstract: A bacteriocin or polypeptide (LL-2 SEQ ID NO:2) derived from Lactococcus lactis subspecies lactis NRRL-B-18809 is described. Sequenced DNA and polypeptide precursor encoded thereby (SEQ ID NO: 1) are described. Methods of use and production of the polypeptide LL-2 are described.

Abstract: Described are novel donor bacteria harboring a plasmid DNA fragment from a plasmid 30 MDa in molecular weight referred to as pHV67 in L. lactis subsp. lactis TC67, and DNA fragment encoding for a substance which increases viscosity of a milk-containing product. The donor bacteria are capable of conjugally transferring the DNA fragment to a lactic acid bacterium at a frequency of at least about 10.sup.-5 transconjugants per input donor bacterium. Methods involving the preparation and use of bacteria for novel milk fermentations, for example, buttermilk, sour cream and cottage cheese, are also described.

Abstract: A process for the manufacture of cheese is provided in which milk is acidified, heat treated, cooled and inoculated with an acid producing starter culture. Fermentation is then allowed to proceed until an acid coagulum is formed. The coagulum is cut, cooked to the desired firmness, and further processed by adding cream dressing or press or cheddaring. The initial acidification step will be unnecessary if a supply of milk with a sufficiently low pH is obtained.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process of preparing concentrated bacterial cultures for direct vat inoculation of milk batches in which harmless lactic acid-producing bacteria are cultured in an aqueous medium including fermentation nutrients to obtain a fermented aqueous culture of the bacteria cells together with residual nutrients including casein, whereby the bacteria cells are recovered and concentrated by subjecting the bacterial culture to centrifugation while having dissolved therein prior to or after fermentation a combination of from 0.05% to 0.20% based on the weight of the culture of a water--soluble food--acceptable polyphosphate salt selected from the class consisting of tripolyphosphate and hexametaphosphate containing from 4 to 22 phosphate groups per molecule and from 0.25% to 0.50% based on the weight of the culture of a water--soluble food--acceptable citrate salt.

Abstract: A weight control product is preferably in the form of agglomerated particles and is reconstitutable in water. The product contains low lactose milk and a dietary fiber system which is a particular blend of soluble, insoluble, fermentable and non-fermentable fibers. The components of the dietary fiber system are oat hull fiber, gum arabic and sodium carboxymethylcellulose. About 27% of the calories provided by the product are contributed by protein, about 50% of the calories are contributed by carbohydrates, and about 23% are contributed by fats.

Abstract: A metabolite material of propionibacteria, having a metabolite of molecular weight greater than 300, is added to a food product to inhibit the growth of gram negative psychotropic bacteria, yeast, mold, gram positive bacteria, or Listeria. The metabolite material may contain less than 0.02% propionic acid such that there is insufficient propionic acid per se to inhibit microbial growth. The metabolite material is produced by growing propionibacteria cells in a liquid growth medium to produce a mixture containing the metabolite material. The mixture can be concentrated and added to a food product as a concentrated liquid or powder. The metabolite material added to a food product may contain viable cells of propionibacteria.

Abstract: A method of determining a calibration curve used in deciding the components of living organism by means of the least-squares method by using a plurality of measured data at different concentrations obtained by measuring reaction solutions of a plurality of standard substances having different concentrations. At least a single set of measured data Y(i) is weighted in a predetermined manner, the measured data Y(i) being obtained from the standard substance reaction solution at a specific concentration X(i) near a limit value used in deciding the living organism components. With the weighting, a calibration curve having a high precision at a portion near the limit value is realized resulting in a correct and highly reliable decision.

Abstract: A method for fermenting diacetyl and acetoin with a lactic acid bacterium by adding one or more additives selected from ferroporphyrin, heme protein, an animal tissue containing ferroporphyrin and blood and metal salts to a culture substrate containing a sugar source which a lactic acid bacterium can use, inoculating the lactic acid bacterium into the substrate and then aerobically culturing the bacterium with shaking or under aeration. A culture solution containing high concentrations of diacetyl and acetoin obtained by the present invention or its diacetyl concentrate is used to increase or improve the flavor of foods such as oils and fats, e.g., butter, margarine, cheeses, shortening, etc., confectionery, creams and the like.

Abstract: A kefir-like fermented milk is produced from a raw material, which contains lactose and at least one sugar, by subjecting the lactose to lactic acid fermentation with a lactic acid bacterium and the sugar to alcoholic fermentation with a yeast. The alcoholic fermentation is controlled, for example, by conducting same with a lactose non-fermenting and galactose non-fermenting yeast until all assimilable sugar sources are substantially eliminated. A gelatinous kefir-like fermented milk is also produced by controlling the alcoholic fermentation to start after addition of a gelling agent.

Abstract: A fermented milk containing butter fat and a method of producing the same. The butter fat is emulsified with a saturated higher fatty acid ester of polyglycerin having an average polymerization degree of 6 or higher and having an HLB of 4 or higher.

Abstract: A lactic acid fermented food is sweetened using aspartame alone or a sweetening agent containing aspartame. The lactic acid bacteria which are used to manufacture the lactic acid fermented food and which remain in same are those selected from group A consisting of: Streptococcus cremoris, Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus diacetilactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Pedicoccus cerevisiae and Leuconostoc cremoris, and are never those selected from group B consisting of: Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Lactobacillus helveticus.