Inhibition of fungal growth by manganese depletion
AssigneeChr. Hansen A/S
InventorsSolvej Siedler, Martin Holm Rau, Stina Dissing Aunsbjerg Nielsen
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method of controlling growth of unwanted microorganisms by limiting their access to manganese. More specifically, the present invention provides a method of inhibiting or delaying growth of yeast and mold by reducing the manganese concentration in a product which is preferably a food product. The invention also provides manganese scavengers and uses thereof to inhibit or delay fungal growth.
Claims18
A method of inhibiting or delaying growth of fungi in a fermented milk product, comprising the step of reducing free manganese in the product to a concentration of below about 0.01 ppm in the product, wherein the step of reducing free manganese in the product comprises adding to the product, in an amount effective to reduce free manganese in the product to a concentration below about 0.01 ppm in the product, one or more manganese scavenging agents selected from bacteria strains that comprise a manganese transporter gene and exhibit manganese uptake activity and chemical chelating materials, thereby inhibiting or delaying growth of fungi in the fermented milk product via reduction of free manganese in the product to a concentration below about 0.01 ppm in the product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.