Lactobacillus bulgaricus (yoghurt bacillus)
Lactobacillus bulgaricus (bacilo del yogur)
- Date
- 1905 · confidence high
- Place
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Stamen Grigorov
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A Bulgarian medical student who in Geneva isolated from his country's yoghurt the bacillus responsible for souring the milk. It was later named Lactobacillus bulgaricus.
Grigorov published the finding in 1905 in the Revue Médicale de la Suisse Romande, under Léon Massol's supervision. The bacterium is now classified as Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus.
What it led to
- industrial yoghurt starter cultures
- Metchnikoff's hypothesis on lactic bacteria and longevity
- scientific study of probiotics