Construction Standard Aseptic and special execution Stage of propagation Brochure

Stages of propagation in the Viscubator

The 5 stages of the process:

1. Heat treatment of the substrate. The first step in the starter preparation is heat treatment of the substrate which is heated to 90 - 95˚C and held at that temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. The temperatures and time intervals can be steplessly varied to any desired values.

2. Cooling to inoculation temperature. After being heat treated, the substrate is cooled to inoculation temperature, which differs according to the type of bacteria culture being used. Normal inoculation temperatures are 18 - 19˚C for cheese cultures, 20 - 22˚C for butter cultures and 42 - 45˚C for yoghurt cultures.

3. Inoculation. For inoculation, a determined quantity of bacteria culture is transferred to the heat treated substrate, the temperature of which has been adjusted to the correct level.

4. Incubation. As soon as inoculation has taken place and the starter has been mixed into the substrate, the bacteria begin to multiply. The incubation time is determined by the types of bacteria in the culture, the inoculation dosage, etc. and can vary from 3 to 20 hours.

5. Cooling of finished culture. When the culture has reached the correct acidity it should be cooled to about 10 – 12˚C. The purpose of cooling is to stop further growth of bacteria once the optimum count has been reached.