This is a presentation about the development and impact of a probiotic starter culture and the challenges of bringing probiotics to the African continent to improve health and wealth. One of the aimed targets is rota-virus associated diarrhea – one of the major causes of death among children under 5 years old in resource-poor countries. At present this initiative resulted in sales of over 8,000 liters of locally produced probiotic fermented milk per week in mostly rural areas in Uganda. The probiotic yoghurt drink has benefitted over 25,000 people, including producers and consumers with the potential to reach hundreds of thousands in the near future.
The covered topics include:
- Development of a dried starter culture which allows propagation of probiotic L. rhamnosus yoba 2012 in milk
- Stability issues associated with the propagation of an intestinal isolate in a dairy matrix
- A training program and a social business model to facilitate production and sales of the probiotic yogurt drink
Reference:
Kort, Westerik et al. and Sybesma (2015) A novel consortium of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Streptococcus thermophilus for increased access to functional fermented foods. Microbial Cell Factories 14: 195.
