We tell you how Belarusian scientists help produce high-quality, tasty and healthy products

Topic news Belarusian dairy products are a national brand, widely known not only in our native Fatherland, but also far beyond its borders. This fact clearly confirms their compliance with the highest requirements for quality and safety. Not only farmers and production workers, but also scientists from the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry, who help domestic enterprises produce products of the best quality, are involved in the successes in milk processing in the Republic of Belarus .
Milk Rivers
This is where modern technologies are developed and new types of products for dairy enterprises are created. The Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry, which is one of the organizations of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, has a fairly wide scope of activities aimed at developing and implementing innovative solutions in the field of processing meat and dairy raw materials. Thus, in recent years, the institute has implemented many projects that are significant for the whole country in terms of improving the quality and structure of the population’s nutrition, expanding the range of products, as well as increasing export potential.
– Our institute is the only organization that provides scientific support for the development of the meat and dairy industries. Special attention is paid to the creation of new technologies in the field of milk processing, says Gordey Gusakov , director of the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry.
According to the interlocutor, milk is a unique and very valuable food product. It contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates, microelements (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium), B vitamins, vitamins A, D and a number of other nutrients necessary for humans. Long-term studies by domestic and foreign nutritionists indicate that adults who consume sufficient amounts of milk and prefer butter to margarine have a minimal risk of developing a number of diseases.

– Research staff at the institute are working both to expand the range of traditional products, developing technologies that allow for maximum preservation of all useful components of raw milk, and to create specialized dairy products. Within the walls of the institute, innovative technologies and new types of products are developed, a fund of normative and technical documentation regulating the main characteristics of dairy products is formed and constantly updated,” says the director. – And this guarantees and ensures the quality of finished products presented in the country’s retail chains.
Our consumers are accustomed to seeing a wide range of natural dairy products on store shelves. And this became possible due to the implementation of government programs in the agricultural sector aimed at developing the livestock sector of dairy farming, increasing milk production volumes, modernizing outdated enterprises, improving and introducing innovative technologies and, of course, increasing requirements for the quality of finished products.

For the little ones,

the Institute is the developer of all national standards for milk and dairy products.
– Our livestock complexes are constantly working on the quality of raw materials, increasing fat and protein levels, improving microbiological indicators and reducing the content of somatic cells. So, today second-grade milk has already been abolished,” explains Olga Sotchenko, leading engineer in the sector of standardization and regulation of the dairy industry. – I would like to note that the requirements for milk quality indicators in Belarus are among the most stringent in the CIS. We have maintained our national standardization so as not to lose the already familiar high quality of the finished product.
According to the head of the industrial laboratory of biochemistry, microbiology and technological processes of milk processing, Ekaterina Bespalova, the volume of extra-grade milk raw materials increases every year in our country. This allows us to produce at our enterprises the entire range of dairy products - from a line of baby food to export-oriented high-quality cheeses with long ripening periods.

“If we talk about Belarusian dairy products for children, then thanks to strict adherence to standards, they have become a brand that is in high demand throughout the post-Soviet space,” the specialist points out. – The institute’s staff, as part of scientific programs, conducts research on children’s nutrition issues. Particularly stringent requirements have been introduced for products intended for infants who are bottle-fed and mixed-fed. The Institute has developed more than a hundred types of dairy products for children of different age groups: yoghurts, kefir , drinks, curd spreads, dry milk products.

Currently, interstate standards are being developed for drinking, lactose-free and low-lactose milk, low-lactose and lactose-free fermented milk products. It is important to note that the research conducted at the institute is relevant not only on the scale of Belarus.
– The number of people with lactase deficiency, when the body is unable to break down milk sugar, is increasing in the world.(lactose). Until recently, milk and many products made from it were completely contraindicated for such people,” says Elena Stepanova, deputy director for scientific work at the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry. “However, it is dairy products that are rich in essential amino acids, vitamins, calcium, and other nutrients that are especially needed by a growing body. Eliminating milk from your diet can lead to a deficiency of calcium and other important nutrients. And we found a way out! It is here, at our institute, that a domestic line of lactose-free products has been developed, which includes milk and cream, kefir, sour cream,yogurt , butter,cottage cheese , cheese,ice cream . The use of such products will allow people with lactose intolerance to receive almost the entire range of beneficial nutrients from milk and dairy products.
Specialized nutrition
Scientists are sure that for a person adhering to the principles of a healthy diet, it is important to reduce the consumption of sugar and salt. And therefore, one of the trends today is the development and launch of new products with a minimum content of these components.

– Since the consumer is now provided with a wide gastronomic choice, he does not limit himself in his desires. As a result, the amount of simple carbohydrates in the diet, heavy and fatty foods increases, says Olga Sotchenko. – Our specialists have developed a whole line of products with reduced calorie content and sugar content, useful both for people who are forced to regulate their sugar intake and for those who track their calorie intake. Curd masses and cheese curds, types of ice cream have appeared in which the sugar content is reduced by 30% or is completely replaced with modern low-calorie sweeteners - maltitol, erythritol and others.

One of the dynamically developing areas of activity of the agro-industrial complex is cheese making. Processors are mastering the production of new types of cheese, increasing capacity, opening new production facilities, and modernizing existing ones. Scientific research is underway to produce lactose-free cheeses for people with lactase deficiency.

“Research has been carried out on the production and storage properties of semi-hard cheeses with a reduced sodium salt content,” explains Ekaterina Bespalova. – During the production of cheese, salt performs the function not only of shaping the taste, but also of the regulator of microbiological and biochemical processes that occur during its ripening. We have developed a cheese production technology in which the amount of table salt is significantly reduced, and sodium is partially replaced with potassium.
Among the latest developments of the institute are products enriched with iodine. On average, the need for iodine is only 150 mcg per day, but a long-term lack of it in the diet leads to the development of a number of pathological conditions, united by the general term “iodine deficiency diseases.”

– Belarus is a biogeochemical province for iodine. Taking this fact into account, our scientists have developed a whole line of dairy products fortified with iodine,” says Elena Stepanova. – We have selected iodine-containing components that have maximum resistance to technological influences and preservation in the product until the end of the shelf life. Such dairy products can be produced by our dairy processing enterprises, and their consumption will be another good measure to prevent the prevalence of iodine deficiency in Belarus.
At the institute we learned to vary the protein content inmilk , which became an important factor in the work on specialized nutrition. Taking into account the industry’s focus on waste-free production, technologies have been developed for the complex processing of dairy raw materials into products with a high protein content and with a minimum amount of it.

“For people with phenylketonuria, products with a reduced protein content have been developed,” explains Ekaterina Bespalova. – Since this target group is very small, the production of such products is carried out at the institute’s own experimental production. But protein-enriched foods are indispensable in the diet of people experiencing increased physical activity.

Why not ferment
Thanks to the many years of work of the Institute’s scientists, a Republican collection of industrial strains of starter microorganisms and their bacteriophages has been created, included in the State Register of Scientific Objects that constitute the National Heritage of the Republic of Belarus. 
The collection fund includes a large number of strains of microorganisms belonging to various types: lactic acid, propionic acid, bifidobacteria, etc. “The
cultures stored in the collection have unique properties, which contributes to the formation of a diverse assortment of starter cultures produced by the institute,” says Natalya Zhabanos, head of the biotechnology department. – It should be noted that in addition to starters for traditional products for our region, such as cottage cheese, cheeses ,sour cream , starter cultures are being produced to create functional fermented milk products.
A wide range of dairy products, distinguished by their naturalness and high taste, has long been the pride of the country. The Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry states that they are not going to stop there and are ready to continue to delight our discerning customers with their new products and unexpected interesting recipes.

The Institute is the developer of all national standards for milk and dairy products.
“The institute’s researchers are working both to expand the range of traditional products, developing technologies that allow maximum preservation of all useful components of raw milk, and to create specialized dairy products,” notes Gordey Gusakov.
The Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry is the country’s only manufacturer of starter cultures for the dairy processing industry. Every year, new types of dry and frozen bacterial starter cultures are put into production, allowing domestic enterprises to produce a wide range of dairy products.

Elena Nikolaeva, photo by Sergei Sheleg