Novel Biopreservatives to Improve the Shelf Life Of Cottage Cheese

Thegoalofthisproposalistodevelopabiopreservativeingredientthatextendstheshelflifefood productsstartingwithsoftcheesessuchascottagecheese.Dairyproductsarepartofahealthydietfor ~80% of Americans providing essential protein calcium and vitamins. Dairy foods are highly susceptible to microbialspoilagebutchemicalpreservativesusedindairyfoodsareincreasingly restricted due to safety concerns. Thus dairy manufacturers urgently need effective natural alternatives known as "biopreservatives" which use microbial fermentation to naturally inhibit spoilage organism growth. Whereas chemical preservatives are single molecules with one antimicrobialmechanismofaction(MoA)ourproductcombinesmultipleMoAthroughrationally TM selectedmicrobialcommunitiesor"Superculture ingredients"(SCI).OurUSDASBIRPhIresearch used computational methods and high-throughput screening to identify a novel lead antifungal ingredient.PreliminaryPhaseIcharacterizationdemonstratedthatprototypeperformancesignificantly exceedsin-marketleadingbiopreservativeproductsandthatingredientproductioncouldbescaledup topilotfermentorvolumes.InPhaseIIweproposeto buildontheseexcitingresultsbyoptimizing performance and production to verify performance at commercial scales enabling broad commercialization of this high performance biopreservative ingredient and ultimately reducing spoilage of dairy products. This product will provide benefits to food manufacturers and end consumers; bydecreasing spoilage it will reduce food waste reduce distribution costs increase accessibilityofhealthydairyproductsandreducetheecologicalimpactofartificialchemicalsand plasticpackaging.