356 BUTTER 



NUMBER OF ORGANISMS IN 



i gram of same butter 

 i gram of 

 unsalted butter. 



Fresh . 



10 days old 



20 

 70 

 98 



Fettick also showed that the moulds of butter, of which 

 species of Penicillmm, Oospora, and Mucor are most 

 prevalent, are very rapidly reduced in salted butter, but 

 continue to develop for a considerable time when the 

 material is left unsalted. 



NUMBER OF MOULDS IN 



I gram of same butter 

 i gram of with 3 per cent, 



unsalted butter. of salt added. 



Fresh . . 687 . . 784 



10 days old . 9,375 .- . 750 



20 . 99,125 241 



70 ., . 263,429 > , o 



This is an important result, since some of the objec- 

 tionable oily, rancid, fishy, and cheesy flavours of butter 

 have been traced to this class of organisms. More than 

 3 per cent, of salt would appear to be disadvantageous, 

 since larger amounts inhibit the lactic acid bacteria 

 without interfering much with the growth of Bact. coli y 

 Bact. I. aerogenes, Bs. subtilis, and Bact. putrificus. Highly 

 salted butter is liable to develop taints which do not 

 appear in samples containing less of this preservative, a 

 point which has to be borne in mind by the producer of 

 butter for the export trade. 



