Contribution of Gal(-) lactic acid bacteria to Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolic activity in milk

The contemporaneous presence of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillu s delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus affected the growth kinetics of Saccharomyc es cerevisiae PZ2 and the metabolic products of their growth were quantitat ively and qualitatively different from those produced by single strains ino culated alone. S. cerevisiae can grow in milk without using lactose or gala ctose. In particular, the presence of peptides seems to be sufficient to en sure its growth. The growth of S. cerevisiae with lactic acid bacteria is c haracterised by stimulatory effects that involve both yeast and bacteria. H owever, the release of galactose by lactic acid bacteria does not seem to b e the core metabolic event of these stimulatory effects on S. cerevisiae. ( C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.