404 MILK 



vessel containing the mixture is wrapped in cloth to maintain the 

 proper temperature and kept in this condition for twelve to eigh- 

 teen hours, when the product is ready for use. 



Mazun is a solid coagulum of characteristic taste and odor. 

 It is eaten or diluted with water for a beverage. The coagulum 

 may be pressed, and then is known as "tan" or "than"; or it is 

 mixed with flour and dried in the air. The product is "tschora- 

 tan," which is prepared for consumption with spinach and rice 

 and flavored with peppermint. A favorite solid food is thus 

 furnished. 



Mazun is rich in lactobacilli which were isolated by Diiggeli 

 and by Weigmann, Griiber, and Huss. These authors named 

 the lactobacillus Bacterium mazun. A yeast, streptococcus, 

 and oi'dium were isolated by the last-named authors from mazun. 

 Also a spore-bearing bacillus was present which digests casein, 

 with the production of a cheesy odor. 



FERMENTED MILKS WITH PRE-EMINENTLY ALCOHOLIC 

 FERMENTATION 



Distinctly different from the fermented milks described above 

 are "kefir" and "kumiss." Both are the result of a pronounced 

 alcoholic fermentation which is favored by a relatively low tem- 

 perature of incubation, so that the acid fermentation proceeds 

 but slowly. The organisms necessary for the production of these 

 two beverages are not fully determined, but there is probably a 

 streptococcus active in producing acid and a yeast which is cap- 

 able of fermenting milk-sugar with alcohol and gas formation. 



Rogers suggests that similar beverages can be prepared by 

 inoculating ordinary buttermilk with an alcohol and carbon 

 dioxid, producing yeast, and adding cane-sugar to buttermilk, 

 since lactose-fermenting yeasts are relatively uncommon. 



Kefir, keffir, kephir, kifyr, kiafyr, kephor, or kyppe, meaning 

 "best beverage," is a fermented milk prepared by the inhabitants 

 of the Caucasus Mountains from sheep's, goat's, or cow's milk. 

 It contains alcohol, carbon dioxid, and lactic acid as products of 

 decomposition of the milk-sugar, and also small quantities of glyc- 

 erin and succinic, acetic, and butyric acids. The casein and 

 albumin are slightly peptonized. The fermentation is started by 

 kefir grains which, according to some legends, were gifts of the 

 gods, or, according to others, grew on bushes. These grains form 

 masses of various size, and each mass is composed of grains which 

 vary from the size of a millet seed to that of a hazelnut. The 

 color of the grains is golden to dark yellow. When dry they can 

 be preserved for a long time without losing viability (Fig. 182). 



