Do you eat yogurt made of ants? The scholars did

“Yogurt is usually made today with only two bacterial strains,” says a great author Leonne Jean of Denmark Technical University. “If you look at the traditional yogurt, you have much greater biological diversity, and they differ based on the site, families and the season. This brings more flavors, textures and personality.”

Red wood ants (forma types) can crawl across the Balkan and turkey forests, as this technique for making yogurt was a common yogurt. To understand the best how to use these ants to make yogurt, the researchers visited a co -author and an anthropological storm Septevi Motllo Serkova in Bulgaria, where its relatives and other local populations remember tradition.

“We have dropped four full ants in a jar of warm milk through the instructions of the uncle of Seifji and members of society,” the lead author Veronica Senut of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Then the jar was placed in the hill of ants for fermentation overnight. By the next day, the milk began to thicken and acid. “This is an early phase of yogurt, and taste it in this way as well.”

The researchers, who tested the yogurt during their journey, described it as a bit refreshing, herb, and they have flavors of fat fed by the grass.

Once again in Denmark, the team dissected the flag behind ants. And they found that the ants carry the bacteria of lactic acid and acetic acid. The acids produced by these bacteria helps to coagulate dairy. One type of these bacteria was similar to those in the commercial fermented dough.

Insects themselves also help in making yogurt. The researchers say Formic acid, which is part of the natural chemical defense system of ants, affects its milk, and is likely to create an environment for acid -loving microbes in yogurt. The enzymes of ants and microbes work alongside to break the milk proteins and convert milk into yogurt.

The researchers compared the yogurt made of direct ants, freezing and dehydration. Only the ants that cultivate the right microbial community, which means that they are the most appropriate to make yogurt. However, the team found that caution was necessary to ensure that ants products are safe for consumption: living ants can harbor parasites, and frozen or dry ants may allow sometimes bacteria harmful to prosperity.

To test the capabilities of contemporary cooking in Ant Yogurt, the team then partnership with the chefs in Alchemist, the Michelin Restaurant of its stars in Copenhagen, Denmark, which gave traditional milk a modern touch. They have served the guests many fabrications including ice cream yogurt in the form of an ant, mascarbon-like cheese with a thorough tang, and cocktails with milk wash-and all are inspired by the yogurt style and the use of the insect as a major element.

“Providing scientific evidence that these traditions have a deep meaning and goal, although it may seem strange or more like legend, I think this is really beautiful,” Jean says.

“I hope that people will realize the importance of society and may listen a little more when their grandmother shares an unusual recipe or memory,” said Sinot. “Learning from these practices and creating space for biological cultural heritage in our food paths is important.”