Simulation modelling of bacterial growth in yoghurt

Abstract

INDISIM, an individual-based simulator, was used to specifically study the influence of the shape and size of Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in yoghurt processing. To this effect, two different sets of simulations were carried out. In the first set of simulations, it was assumed that the initial acidity of the medium has the same value as the acidity of the cytoplasm of the microorganisms. Hence, the differences in bacterial growth by the two species are only attributable to differences in their geometry. It was found that, in an optimum culture, the growth in biomass of S. salivarius subsp. thermophilus is larger than that of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. An important factor for understanding this difference might be the larger mass-to-surface ratio of the former. In the second set of simulations, a simplified model of yoghurt, the parametrisation differs both in the geometry and the metabolism of the two species. The results of these simulations are in very good qualitative agreement with the experimental data of [Lait 69 (1989) 519]. Finally, by inhibiting the uptake of amino acids by S. salivarius subsp. thermophilus, the large relative importance of lactic acid in yoghurt processing was highlighted.