How would I go about creating a custom starter culture?

Question

I'm interested in creating my own starter cultures.

I've found a few facilities which offer to create probiotic formulations, in exact amounts, by kg and density but I would rather start with a recommendation from someone with more insight on how this process works. Also, I'm looking for lesser known and very specific strains (e.g. Pediococcus, Propionibacterium, Weissella, etc).

Could anyone advise me on the best way to proceed and if possible, the contact information of a fermentation facility?

Answer 1

I have never contacted a facility to do this for me, but have in the past purchased drinks, or tablets/capsules that have the probiotic organism I am interested in and grown up cultures from them and then used these to make a starter. I have not done it in the most scientific way.

Saying that if you were to get the sample, mix it into solution then plate it up you could get a single colony, check it with microscopy and a few dyes then if it was what you desired grown that up via a staged starter to get what you were looking for.

I would probably start by contacting the labs at you most local university, they will have experience and contacts and are usually more than happy to point you in the right direction. A bit of digging around their contact pages and you will likely find researchers who share your interests.