Find the ideal lactic acid bacteria
among
2,500 strains
In the fall of 1997, Meiji’s joint research project with Tokai University officially started. The first task was to find lactic acid bacteria with high tolerance to acidity. Generally speaking, lactic acid bacteria are fairly tolerant of acid. However, as the human stomach is highly acidic, it is not usually a viable environment, even for most lactic acid bacteria. To identify a way to improve human health with lactic acid bacteria, the joint research team first needed to find a strain that was highly acid-tolerant. Meiji’s laboratory had a collection of over 2,500 strains of lactic acid bacteria at the time, so the researchers quickly started trying to identify the ideal strain of lactic acid bacteria that would meet the criteria. Each day, they tirelessly took lactic acid bacteria from the storage, put them into test tubes, and made careful observations, one by one. In July 1999, when the LG21 lactic acid bacteria were finally and miraculously discovered, almost two years had already passed since the joint research team was formed.
