Extension of Shelf Life of Curd – An Indian Fermented Milk by Using a New Isolate of Brevibacillus Brevis Strain as Starter Culture

Brevibacillus brevis MMB 12 a new isolated bacteria from curd, was found to set curd within 5 hours of incubation at
temperature of 420C and showed a good shelf life, with thick invertible consistency up to 192 hours (8 days) of
fermentation at ambient conditions. Curd was prepared by inoculating Brevibacillus brevis MMB 12 strain at 5% level
and incubated at temperature of 420C for 5 hours. The prepared curd was kept at ambient conditions which ranged from
16…240C throughout the period of experimentation i.e. 8 days. Microbial count ranged between 3.50 ·1010 CFU/ml to
2.9·109 CFU/ml and the acidity increased from 0.58 to 0.66 % during storage. Curd controled fermentation with a
selected strain Brevibacillus brevis MMB 12 depicted low acidity compared to the curd inoculated with Lactobacillus
delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus which was taken as control sample. Mixed curd produced using Brevibacillus brevis
MMB 12 and Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus curd in 1:1 ratio (v/v) had a shelf life of 72 hours. Flavour, colour,
cutting quality and acidity (sourness) were assessed for sensory qualities by 6 specialised trained panelists. Sensory
attributes like cutting quality and taste of Brevibacillus brevis MMB 12 inoculated curd was rated higher than the other
curds. Whereas for colour and flavour the control sample was rated better than Brevibacillus brevis MMB 12 inoculated
curd.