"This sourdough has been to space." What amazes guests at Belagro-2025 at the Meat and Dairy Industry Institute

Photo from the Institute of MEAT and Dairy Industry of the National Academy of Sciences, June 7, MINSK . Specialists from the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry of the National Academy of Sciences have established their own starter culture production, which is supplied to factories across the country. They also have a small line for home use. A BELTA correspondent spoke with Yulia Bantsevich and Natalia Krivosheeva, employees of the scientific organization,  about the intriguing developments in the food industry that scientists

are presenting to guests of Belagro-2025 . The institute's staff provides scientific support to the country's meat and dairy industries. Their efforts are focused on addressing pressing issues in the development of meat and dairy enterprises: they conduct fundamental and applied research in the processing of meat and dairy raw materials, improve production processes, develop and create technologies for the production of new types of products, continuously work on the regulatory framework, and implement import-substituting and resource-saving technologies.

Among the exhibits on display at the Belagro-2025 stand is a variety of starter cultures for the dairy industry. Natalia Krivosheeva explained that the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry is the only company in Belarus producing bacterial starter cultures for the dairy industry. it has established production of 27 types of frozen and 24 types of dry starter cultures used in the production of various fermented dairy products: cottage cheese, soft cheeses, sour cream, semi-hard cheeses, and fermented MILK products, including functional ones. The starter cultures are made exclusively from domestically produced microbial strains using cutting-edge technologies developed in the country.

"We recently added a new product to our starter culture line—Proximilk, a starter culture designed to improve digestive function. It contains 16 probiotic cultures. This is the product that flew into space with Marina Vasilevskaya," said Natalya Krivosheeva. "In space, people consume meager, artificial foods , and there's nowhere to get fresh bacteria. We decided to conduct research to determine whether it's possible to ferment milk in such conditions to develop probiotics in it."bacteria and enrich the product's microflora. Research has shown that this is possible. Thus, the line has been expanded with another type of starter culture.

Lactose-free dairy products, which are now available in stores, were also created with the direct participation of scientists. A new product, mastered in production by the Rogachev Dairy Canning Plant, is lactose- and sugar-free condensed milk. Incidentally, the line of sugar-free products is constantly expanding, as experts explain, in such cases, natural sweeteners are used. Dry milk products for ice cream and milkshakes are also produced with the direct participation of scientists. Among the institute's recent projects is the development of a technology for the production of cheeses with reduced fat content: for this, according to experts, special starter cultures were selected that allow for the preservation of the cheese flavor and texture. 

Researchers have also completed certain projects for the development of the meat industry. Yulia Bantsevich, engineer of the scientific and technical support sector of the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry, called baby food products the pride of the organization. Scientists develop new recipes, control production conditions, monitor quality and Standards are being refined. This includes sausages, dumplings, and canned baby food, which are being exhibited at Belagro 2025. Among the new products, we can highlight the newly developed canned food for athletes and for geriatric nutrition (for the elderly – BELTA note), which maintains a balanced composition of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and is enriched with vitamins. Scientists from the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry are also working on the processing of non-traditional types of meat, such as game and rabbit.

The 35th anniversary international specialized exhibition Belagro was held from June 3 to 7 at a new venue – the Minsk International Exhibition Center. It was attended by 545 companies from 14 countries: Belarus, RUSSIA, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Germany, Italy, CHINA, Iran , Turkey, Vietnam, Palestine, and Pakistan.