ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the Leuconostoc species, but reference will be made also to S. lactis subsp. diacetylactis as it would be impossible to review the properties conferred by the leuconostocs on lactic starter cultures without also considering the somewhat different properties conferred by S. lactis subsp. diacetylactis. Leuconostocs and lactobacilli have been incriminated as the cause of open texture in Cheddar cheese, leuconostocs as the cause of early gas in Gouda cheese, and S. lactis subsp. diacetylactis as the cause of floating curd in cottage cheese. None of these media are suitable for isolating S. lactis subsp. diacetylactis or leuconostocs from cheese, since lactobacilli, which form a considerable portion of the microflora of ripening cheese, can also grow and most of them utilize citrate.
