At 10:51 AM 12/29/2004, Kenneth wrote:

>First, though the yeasts do, indeed, come "with fresh grain"
>it is my understanding that the lactobacilli do not.

Not necessarily - see below, quite a surprising variety in a starter.

From that sourdough critters vs. flour critters paper:

"The sourdough included in the research is a semi wet commercial sourdough
starter which is widely used in bakeries in Germany. It demonstrably
distinguishes itself by a wide spectrum of homo- and heterofermentative
LB's amongst which are predominantly L. acidophilus, L. plantarum, L. casei
ssp. peudoplantarum, L. farciminis, L. fermentum, L. brevis and L. brevis
ssp. lindneri (same as LB SF)."

Those LB's and where they were isolated from (from another source):

L. acidophilus - intestines (humans and animals, mouth and vagina (humans)
L. plantarum - milk products, silage, sauerkraut, fermented vegetables,
cow dung, sewage, intestines, mouth and feces of humans
L. casei ssp. peudoplantarum - milk, cheese, milk products, sourdough, cow
dung, intestines, mouth and feces of humans
L. farciminis - fermented dried sausages, sourdough
L. fermentum - yeast, milk products, sourdough, fermented plant material,
silage, dung, sewage, mouth and feces of humans
L. brevis - milk, cheese, sauerkraut, sourdough, silage, cow
dung, intestines and feces of humans and rats
L. brevis ssp. lindneri (same as LB SF) - wheat and rye sourdoughs only

If you take the varied confirmed origins into consideration and consider
that agricultural plant fertilization with animal feces is done on grain
fields, there may be some chances that LB's find their way through the flour.

Samartha


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