Lactobacillus helveticus
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Lactobacillus helveticus | ||||||||||||||
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Lactobacillus helveticus (Orla-Jensen 1919) Bergey et al. 1925 |
Lactobacillus helveticus is a lactic-acid producing bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus. It is most commonly used in the production of Swiss cheese and Emmental cheese but is also sometimes used in making other styles of cheese, such as Cheddar, Parmesan, romano, provolone, and mozzarella. The primary function of L. helveticus culture is to prevent bitterness and produce nutty flavors in the final cheese. In Swiss and Emmental cheese production, L. helveticus is used in conjunction with a Propionibacter culture, which is responsible for developing the holes (known as "eyes") through production of carbon dioxide gas.
Ingestion of powdered milk fermented with L. helveticus was shown to decrease blood pressure due to the presence of manufactured tripeptides that have ACE inhibitor activity.[1]
The bacterium's specific name comes from "Helvetia", the Latin name for the region occupied by the ancient Helvetii (and for modern Switzerland).
[edit] References
- ^ Aihara K, Kajimoto O, Hirata H, Takahashi R, Nakamura Y. Effect of powdered fermented milk with Lactobacillus helveticus on subjects with high-normal blood pressure or mild hypertension. J Am Coll Nutr. 2005 Aug;24(4):257-65 PMID 16093403.