By Qin Sidong

DB-8, the "Magician" of yogurt, has become the first industrialized strain of probiotics from the Qinghai Tibet Plateau of Angel. And the producer and developer name it Dangxiong LB VIII. DB-8 comes from Dangxiong ("the chosen pasture"), Tibet at an altitude of 4500 meters, where there are towering snow mountains and vast grasslands.

"Through our 'root tracing', we found that DB-8 belongs to Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Lactis. And it is essentially an edible probiotic, and we developed Angel's first self-developed yogurt starter culture Yo-Fru1 with it as the core," introduced by Tan Yali, Deputy General Manager of the Industrial Innovation Technology Center of Angel. Speaking of the excavation history of DB-8, colleagues at the center couldn't help but recall the memories of finding bacteria in the grassland.

In September 2020, most of the region was in autumn, and Dangxiong, Tibet, with an altitude of 4500 meters, had entered the early winter. The oxygen content in the air at minus 2 degrees Celsius is only 15%. Angel's technology center R&D team was not afraid of severe cold and high altitude reactions. Carrying oxygen tanks, they went deep into the "The Chosen Pasture" in the cold wind, collecting bacterial strains on snowy mountains, grasslands, herdsmen's homes, and other places. And DB-8 was hidden in Naila (a special dairy product) made under unique climate and geographical conditions.

Like DB-8, a series of probiotic strains have also been discovered. The R&D personnel of the technology center regularly visit Tibet, covering more than 20 counties and townships in 5 cities, 1 district. Up to now, over a hundred precious samples of plateau probiotics have been collected, and the growing Qinghai Tibet Plateau Probiotic Bank of Angel provides driven force for the development and achievement transformation of functional microbial resources in the later stage, breaking the bottleneck in the field of plateau probiotics.

Collecting samples is the first step, and subsequent work such as strain isolation, identification, security evaluation, and selecting the best is tedious and complex. At the same time, the professional research team has gradually expanded, and a series of advanced equipment has also been put into use. "Finding the 'potential stocks' in the strains, then 'identifying' and selecting the 'ideal type' is a long and complex process," said Tan Yali. It takes two years to bring back the samples, select the optimal bacteria, and then complete the complete set of tests.

The inherent advantages of DB-8, such as acid production and natural fruit aroma in its metabolites, fully meet the needs of differentiated development of Angel yogurt. But before DB-8 is used, it also needs to be "cultured" by the R&D personnel of the center. After a series of key technological breakthroughs, Angel technical center conducted repeated cultivation and testing of DB-8, especially testing its activity in extremely cold environment. Finally, DB-8 was "targeted cultivated" into a qualified strain for use, and developed a self-developed yogurt fermentation agent Yo-Fru1 as the core.

"How to maximize the characteristics of DB-8 and maintain its stability is an urgent issue that we need to overcome in our applications," said Tan Yali. After a period of three years, a zero additive, naturally fruity plateau probiotic yogurt with clean formula properties has finally been released. In the process of industrial application, we repeatedly experimented and strived for excellence in taste, flavor, texture, formula cleaning, etc., asked for professional suggestions for market development in product concepts, characteristics, positioning, target groups, and received precise guidance to the workshop in terms of raw material ratio, process optimization, and online trial production.

About Angel:

Angel Yeast Company is a high-tech listed company specializing in yeast and biotech. Product business covers Yeast and Baking, Yeast Extract-Savoury, Nutrition & Health and Biotechnology fields. It is one of the world's leading companies in the yeast industry. Angel has 12 holding subsidiaries and provides products and services for more than 150 countries and regions.

http://en.angelyeast.com/

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email: qinsd@angelyeast.com