Innovations
and more
Aditi Gangavkar spotlights Chr Hansen's DAC 03 dairy
culture - the latest evolution in the Indian dahi sector
From being a household phenomenon,
dahi-making has today become a
commercial activity with the packaged
dahi market growing at the rate of 20
per cent. Indian dahi has a typical taste
profile and it is a real challenge to offer
consumers a consistent and stable product.
With a view to boost the Indian dairy
industry, Chr Hansen has recently introduced
DAC 03, a new and unique dairy culture,
which is custom-made especially for the
Indian market. According to Tansukhlal Jain,
MD, Chr Hansen (India), the new product is
good news for the Indian dairy industry which
has been using conventional methods and
thus, yielding low production volumes. As
such, he expects good response for DAC 03
as it meets all industry expectations in terms
of process and product attributes.
DAC 03
Chr Hansen India developed DAC 03 on the
basis of a six-month study on consumer
insights. The product is being manufactured
at the company's Denmark facility.
Traditionally, dahi is manufactured by
addition of a bulk starter culture. The process
involves activation of the lyophilised culture,
which takes about two days and results in
mother culture. The mother culture is then
propagated on daily basis to prepare the bulk
starter, which is then used to manufacture
dahi. The bulk starter propagation is required
to be done in a specified secluded part of the
plant and requires an effective sanitation
programme. Any deviation in the process may
result in failure of the starter culture and
consequently, loss of an entire batch of dahi.
However, FD DVS (Freeze Dried Direct Vat
Set) DAC 03 culture from Chr Hansen scores
over the traditional bulk starter system in
making dahi on a commercial scale. "It results
in consistent product quality without any
batch-to-batch variation, thereby eliminating
requirements to re-work," confirms Mr Jain.
Each batch of FD DVS DAC 03 culture is
fully tested for activity and microbial
contaminants before it leaves Chr Hansen's
premises and certificates of analysis can be
provided by the company.
Moving further, dahi-making process using
DAC 03 requires very low post-acidification
(acidification after incubation is only
marginal), leading to increased shelf life of
packed dahi. Similarly, better viscosity is
created due to the exopolysaccharide
formation, resulting out of Chr Hansen's DVS
