Scientists have discovered nearly 3,600-year-old cheese samples clinging to mummified bodies found in northwest China's Tarim Basin. Analysis of the white material confirmed cow and goat DNA, identifying it as kefir cheese. Further analysis revealed bacteria associated with kefir production, suggesting a connection to Tibet and challenging previous assumptions about its origin.
sitting forgotten in the back of our fridges and cupboards, but nothing is going to come close to the nearly 3,600-year-old cheese samples discovered clinging to mummified bodies in northwest China .in China 's Tarim Basin in the 1990s. Smeared across the heads and necks of a number of the mummified corpses was a white material
It's only now by using the latest in analysis techniques that scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have been able to confirm cow and goat DNA in the Bronze Age substance, and identify it aspaleontologist Qiaomei Fu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences."Food items like cheese are extremely difficult to preserve over thousands of years, making this a rare and valuable opportunity."bacteria, indicating these microbes were important in fermenting the kefir.
It's thought that these probiotic kefir grains were used to extend the shelf life of the cheese and to combat lactose intolerance – something that wasin the ancient world. This process would've made it easier for people to safely digest the milk produced by their livestock.immune system responses in the human intestine. In other words, this species of bacterium has become more at home with human hosts over time while also improving its capabilities as an agent for fermenting milk.
Ancient Cheese Kefir Mummies China Bacteria
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