Screening

Development of innovative new products requires finding the bacterial strains best suited for the job by screening among many thousands of candidates. This is why Chr. Hansen has invested in advanced technology within this field.

Screening for the most wanted properties

The challenge for Chr. Hansen's screening scientists is to design assays that allow the selection of exactly the right strain for a particular purpose.

High throughput screening methods have been developed for each of the most important properties of bacterial strains. They include:   

• Speed of acidification
• Production of desired flavor compounds
• Resistance to bacteriophage 
• Production of bacteriocins
• Tolerance to acid, bile or salt
• Formation of extracellular polysaccharide
• Fermentation of citrate
• Proteolytic activity

Using robots for automated screening

Most screening is automated using robots specifically designed to handle bacterial samples. One robot recognizes, picks and inoculates large quantities of bacterial colonies, while a custom built liquid handling robot does the actual screening.