Yakult
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yakult (ヤクルト Yakuruto?) is a probiotic yogurt-like beverage made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk and sugar with a special strain of the bacteria Lactobacillus casei. Because L. casei Shirota is naturally found in the digestive system, Yakult is touted as beneficial for intestinal health. It has a natural citrus flavor.
Yakult also has a high amount of sugar, 12grams in each bottle, to keep the bacteria alive.
The name is derived from jahurto, an archaic form of the Esperanto for "yoghurt"[1] (the modern word is jogurto).[2]
Yakult was invented by Kyoto University pediatrics doctor Minoru Shirota in 1930. In 1935, he founded the Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. (株式会社ヤクルト本社 Kabushiki-gaisha Yakuruto Honsha?) (TYO: 2267 ) to market his beverage. Since then, Yakult has also introduced a line of beverages for the Japanese market that contain Bifidobacterium breve bacteria, and has also used its lactobacilli research to develop cosmetics. More recently, the Yakult Honsha played a major role in developing the chemotherapy drug irinotecan (Camptosar, CPT-11).[3]
Yakult also owns one of Japan's major baseball franchises, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Today, Yakult is manufactured and sold in Japan, Asia, Australia, Latin America, and Europe, although its bacteria cultures are still imported from a mother strain in Japan regardless of production location.
Yakult is marketed in different sizes. In Australia and Europe, Yakult comes in 65mL bottles. Whereas in Taiwan and China, it comes in 100mL bottles. [4][5]
[edit] Ingredients
Standard Yakult (excludes variations such as in Yakult Light, available in Australia) contains [6]:
- Sugar (sucrose)
- Skim milk powder
- Glucose
- Natural flavours
- Live Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain
- Water
[edit] References
- ^ What is the origin of Yakult’s name?
- ^ Reta Vortaro - jogurto
- ^ Yakult company profile: Pharmaceutical Division
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
