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US 10,370,636 B2Granted
Starter culture compositions
AssigneeDsm IP Assets B.V.
InventorPim Van Hee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to frozen and freeze dried starter culture compositions comprising microorganisms. The invention also relates to methods of producing the frozen and freeze dried starter culture compositions and methods of using them.
Claims14
A process for making a starter culture composition comprising a microorganism, a cryoprotectant and at least one stimulating additive, said process comprising:
- a. culturing a microorganism in a culture medium;
- and
- b. collecting the microorganism from the culture medium;
- and
- c. adding a cryoprotectant to the microorganism obtained in b);
- and
- d. freezing said microorganism obtained in c) in the form of pellets or granules;
- and
- e. adding at least one frozen stimulating additive in the form of pellets or granules to a microorganism obtained in d),
- wherein no stimulating additive is added before step d), and wherein said freezing of step d) is performed directly following the addition of cryoprotectant of step c);
- wherein the ratio of stimulating additive (wt.) to microorganism (wt.) in the starter culture composition is between 0.1 and 10;
- and
- wherein the addition of at least one frozen stimulating additive of step e) increases the acidification rate of the starter culture composition compared to addition of the stimulating additive before freezing, and
- wherein the cryoprotectant is added in an amount sufficient to increase the acidification rate of the starter culture composition compared to a composition without the added cryoprotectant.
11 more elements
A frozen starter culture composition comprising:
- a) frozen pellets or frozen granules comprising a microorganism and a cryoprotectant;
- and
- b) at least one frozen stimulating additive in the form of pellets or granules;
- wherein said at least one stimulating additive is selected from the group consisting of antioxidants, peptones, tryptones, vitamins, hydrolysates, amino acids, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, nucleotides, nucleobases, yeast extracts, beef extract, organic acids, and growth factors;
- wherein no stimulating additive is present in the frozen pellets or granules comprising the microorganism and cryoprotectant,
- wherein the cryoprotectant is present in an amount effective for protection of the microorganism from damage during freezing and thawing and to increase the acidification rate of the starter culture composition, as compared to a composition without the cryoprotectant;
- and
- wherein the ratio of stimulating additive (wt.) to microorganism (wt.) in the starter culture composition is between 0.1 and 10;
- and
- wherein the at least one frozen stimulating additive increases the acidification rate of the starter culture composition as compared to a composition where a stimulating additive is frozen together with the microorganism and cryoprotectant.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.