Rehydration of Freeze‐Dried Cultures of Lactic Streptococci

ABSTRACT Cell suspensions (0.2 ml each) of three lactic streptococci were freeze‐dried from distilled water. In order to determine the optimum conditions of rehydration the effect of different factors such as composition, temperature, and pH of rehydrating media on viability of the freeze‐dried cells of the lactic streptococci has been studied. Rehydration of freeze‐dried cells with 10% solution of dextrose, sucrose or reconstituted skim milk at pH 6.5 and 22°C can be recommended as optimum conditions for maximum recovery of viable cells.