What is yogurt?

Yogurt likely originated in India, spreading throughout Near Asia and Africa, and via Turkey to the Balkans. It was produced by rural people from thickened buffalo milk, later also from goat and cow milk, through prolonged boiling. It had a strongly sour taste and a firm consistency (it was often diluted with water before consumption). The fermentation was influenced by the milk’s natural microflora, which, in hot climates, was dominated by thermophilic bacteria.

Currently, yogurt is produced from standardized milk, thickened with the addition of milk powder, sometimes by evaporating water, and with added sugar. It is then pasteurized and homogenized. This milk is fermented with Streptococcus thermophilus and Loctobacillus delbrueckii, subsp. Bulgaricus, and Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria. Yogurt is made from pasteurized, homogenized milk, to which live cultures of bacteria are added, which reproduce during incubation at an appropriate temperature (42-45°C). The bacteria are introduced into the milk after pasteurization, so they remain in the yogurt as living microorganisms. Yogurt with live cultures inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi (including Candida albicans) in the digestive tract. This is how fruit yogurt is created.