Development of starter culture with driedMalabar tamarind ( Garcinia gummi-gutta ) fruits for buffalo milk curd

Nowadays typical starter cultures are very expensive and because of this reason people tend to use a small amount of curd from a previous batch as the starter culture. But doing this continuously causes quality reduction of curds. When consecutive curds are used as starter cultures, wild cultures can be prominent because of dilution of Lactic Acid Bacterialconcentration. Therefore, major objective of this study was to prepare a freeze dried starter culture using dried Malabar tamarind (Garcinia gummi-gutta) fruits to avoid such situations. In addition, there was a necessity to check whether there is a difference between curds prepared with commercial culture and newly developed culture regarding consumer preference for sensory attributes. And also it was important to know the microbial composition of the end product. From the first sensory evaluation, the best inoculation rate of Malabar tamarind pulp was chosen and the curd made from it was compared with curd made from commercial starter culture in the second sensory evaluation. For chemical analysis, pH and titratable acidity were determined for three successive days. Microbial identification procedures were used in addition to the determinationof totalplate count (TPC), yeasts & molds counts and coliformcounts. Data were appropriately analyzed statistically. Consumer preference was higher for the curd made from highest concentration of Malabar tamarindpulp;therefore it was compared with the curd made from thecommercialstarter culture. Three species of Leuconostoc and four species of Candidawere identified in the end product made from 5% of Malabar tamarind pulp inoculated starter culture. Therefore, results suggested that the Malabar tamarind can be used to prepare a starter culture successfully which can be freeze dried for further usage.