PURE CULTURE VINEGAR PRODUCTION

Abstract

Until now the nature of the acetic acid bacteria responsible for producing the vinegar in industrial plant has remained unknown, and attempts to use pure cultures for seeding either large-scale or laboratory acetifiers have produced results inferior to those obtained with a so-called “natural” or spontaneously occurring mixed flora, Koch's third postulate therefore remaining unsatisfied. A strain of Acetobacter has now been isolated which fulfils Koch's postulates and gives better results than a naturally-occurring flora. It is regarded as belonging to the group “mesoxydans” in Frateur's classification, and has been successfully used in experimental acetifiers for the production of malt, spirit and wine vinegar by all the different known acetification processes.