Bulgarian Yoghurt

This is one of the typical Bulgarian foods. In the beginning of the last century, Western European scientists /physicians and chemists/ have made a large study of Bulgarian food, motivated by the longevity and the higher average of lifespan of the people in Bulgaria.

At that time Bulgaria was the country with the largest number of people over 100 years old in the world. Their hypothesis was that this is due to the local yoghurt /Lactus Bulgaricus/ consumed in big quantities. These results drove attention in West Europe to this type of food and yoghurt came in vogue. In this sense Bulgaria can be considered as the homeland of yoghurt.

 

Lactobacillus Bulgaricus

Lactobacillus Bulgaricus is a Gram-positive bacterium which, altogether with the Streptococcus Thermophilus, is a major factor in the yoghurt production. Yoghurt is produced from fresh milk. It is inoculated with a starter culture which usually contains Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermophilus.

This bacteria ferment the lactose in the milk to lactic acid, causing the milk to curdle and turn into yoghurt. Lactobacillus Bulgaricus is exported in several countries in the world, and is especially well known, for example, in Japan.

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