The study argued that curd made of milk from a pure Indian cow breed contains useful bacteria species which can fight Aflatoxin B1 that is toxic and can cause stomach ache.

Most of us like to eat curd, which is not just good to taste but also helps in digestion and keeps the skin healthy. A new study has found that curd can also help you fight stomach ache.

Published in the journal Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, the study argued that curd made of milk from a pure Indian cow breed contains useful bacteria species which can fight Aflatoxin B1 that is toxic and can cause stomach ache.

Aflatoxin, a toxin, is secreted by a mold called Aspergillus that is known to infect foods like wheat and nuts. Eating these mold-infested foods can affect our health negatively, from causing mild stomach ache to increasing cancer risk. Aflatoxin B1 is in fact is one of the common causes of food poisoning.

For the study, researchers tested 34 samples of curd from three districts in Karnataka for the presence of good bacterium Lactobacillus. The curd were made from the milk of Malnad Gidda, a dwarf variety of cow. Overall, 34 strains of Lactobacillus were found in the curd sample.

“Our study focused on isolating potential health-promoting probiotic bacteria. Malnad Gidda cow is native of a place typically rich in medicinal plants. Obviously its milk would be medicinally important…This is the first time that Lactobacillus fermentum is found in the milk of Malnad Gidda cows,” lead author of the study Dr Gayatri Devaraja was quoted as saying by Telangana Today.

Read| Beat the heat: Why you need to include curd in your diet

The Lactobacillus isolate from the curd of Malnad Gidda was found to have other healthy probiotic properties: competing with other bacteria and restricting their growth, secretion of bacteriocin that kills other bacteria, and survival in bile juice.

The study was conducted by researchers from University of Davanagere, IIT-Mumbai, and CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Mysuru.

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