Ants Can Help Make Yogurt Using Ancient Technique

Yogurt is typically made of milk and a “starter”. This is usually a blend of bacteria that consumes lactose and transforms it into lactic acid. However, this is far from the only way to ferment milk into yogurt. In fact, traditional Bulgarian and Turkish recipes use ants as a starter. For the first time, researchers delved into this process to understand how it works. 

Ants as a yogurt starter

Fermented milk is key for most dairy products, from cheese to kefir. However, the transformation depends on certain types of microbes that preserves and flavors the food. For yogurt, the bacteria is added to warm milk, which eventually makes it curdle. Using certain strains of bacteria as a starter has become mainstream. 

Meanwhile, traditional methods that use local environmental resources have been replaced, or even forgotten. Yogurt-making methods were passed down orally and reinforced with frequent practice. But with the industrialization of this product, fewer people continue to use these kinds of recipes.

Traditional yogurt methods

So a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, decided to investigate a method from Bulgaria and Turkey that used ants as a starter. Ethnographic evidence shows that crushed ants, red wood ants in particular, were added to milk to trigger the fermentation process.

Making ant yogurt

To recreate this method, the researchers took red wood ants from Bulgaria, which were pointed out by local members of the community. They then placed four live ants into a jar of warm raw milk. The milk was an ideal temperature that was hot enough to allow fermentation but not hot enough to kill the microbes in the ants. The study authors then covered the jar with a cheesecloth to let the mixture breathe while protecting it from contamination.

Finally, the researchers placed the jar of milk in the ant colony and covered it with the mount material. After 26 hours, they removed the jar of now-yogurt, stirred it to see its coagulation, and tested the pH and flavor. 

The result

After over a day in the ant colony, the milk’s pH score fell to around 5, which is lower than fresh milk but not as acidic as commercial yogurt. There was also clear coagulation, fit with curds at the bottom of the container. In terms of taste, the researchers said it “had a slight tangy taste with mild herbaceousness and pronounced flavors of grass-fed fat,” according to their report.

Three ant yogurt methods

The authors then repeated the experiment in a laboratory setting from ants collected from Denmark. They made three different versions using crushed live ants, frozen ants, and dehydrated ants. All in all, the yogurts resembled commercial yogurt but with an unique taste and texture.

“Ant holobiant”

In their report, the researchers discuss the concept of the ants’ holobiant, which refers to the plethora of microbes that live in and on them. For instance, the ants contained a variety of lactic and acetic acid bacteria that resembled commercial yogurt cultures. Additionally, they contributed to the yogurt’s preservation and tangy flavor.

Dishes that use ant yogurt

Ant yogurt extends beyond traditional recipes. It has led to the development of dishes such as a goat milk “mascarpone” that uses ants to create coagulation. Although the texture is similar to regular mascarpone, the taste is more pungent. Then there’s the milk-wash cocktail that had traditionally used dehydrated ants before switching to citrus to curdle and separate the milk. Finally, there’s the “ant-wich” ice cream sandwich made from sheep yogurt and an ant starter.

The future of microbe diversity

This study showed that ant yogurt and similar traditional practices can diversify people’s options when it comes to flavors and potential health benefits. Of course, more research and regulation is needed to ensure the food safety of ant yogurt before it can be sold widely.

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