Abstract
The Chemical composition and microbial flora of ten traditionally fermented types of milk (2 edosensuu, 5 airag, 3 tsege) collected at Inner Mongolia, were studied. The data were compared to those of Calpis sour milk, which is cultured in the same manner as some of the types of Inner Mongolian fermented milk. All of the fermented milk of Inner Mongolia and Calpis sour milk contained lactic acid bacteria and yeast. Edosensuu (which was fermented at low temperature), contained small amount of lactic acid and alcohol. In the five samples of airag, there were some differences in the chemical and bacterial compositions resulting from the variations of materials and processes. Tsege (which was made from horse milk), dominantly contained Lactobacillus helveticus. Strains of L. helveticus, and heterofermentative lactobacilli were isolated from Calpis sour milk and from a few samples of airag. Almost all of the samples of airag and tsege contained L. kefirgranum which was initially isolated from kefir grain.
