Exploring the Potential of Halloumi Second Cheese Whey for the Production of Lactic Acid Cultures for the Dairy Industry
, Iordanis Savvidis 2, George Botsaris 3, Konstantinos Gkatzionis 1, Ediriisa Mugampoza 4 and Fani Th. Mantzouridou 2,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1. The main objective of the work is to select starter cultures for the manufacture of a typical cheese typical of Cyprus.
2. The work is relevant in the field, since each type of product has a specific composition of the microbial community.
3. The approach is similar to other works published in the same area, what changes are the phenotype of the selected strains, in this case with the ability to use the lactose and galactose present in large amounts in the dairy whey, which is not common for most bacteria.
4. Of course, this work is the first step in providing a starter culture. it is necessary to see if the selected cultures do not produce toxic substances and if they show resistance to antibiotics and then study the proportion between them and if the characteristics of the cheese do not change with the use of the starter culture
5. At this stage, the conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented.
6. I think references are appropriate.
7. The graphics are simple and easy to understand.
I prefer the abbreviation for the genus Lactobacillus to be L. rather than Lb
Author Response
We would like to thank Reviewer 1 for the appreciation of our submission and his/her input to improve the quality of the manuscript. All the points raised were addressed one by one in the attached file.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
It is known that partical LAB are still present in the whey though most of them are involved in the cheese curd. So the research lack of the novelty. And the isolation and identification are the common operation for LAB. In addition, LAB generally survive from a freeze-drying and remain its viability for several months.
Author Response
We would like to thank Reviewer 2 for his/her appreciation of our submission and his/her input to improve the quality of the manuscript. All the points raised were addressed one by one at the attached file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
In this manuscript Naziri and co-workers isolated and identified some lactic acid bacteria from Halloumi second cheese whey as well as studied their growths in the modified MRS broths with lactose and galactose, SCW. The free-drying and storage experiments of new isolates were also carried out. The work was done correctly, and quality of manuscript is good enough for publication. Authors should insert a part to explain how do the results obtained fit to the sustainable aspects. The English of manuscript also needs attention from Editor. For example: In the term of “dairy industry lactic acid cultures”, do Authors mean “lactic acid cultures for dairy industry”? Authors need to revise them carefully.
Author Response
We would like to thank Reviewer 3 for his/her appreciation of our submission and his/her input to improve the quality of the manuscript. All the points raised were addressed one by one at the attcehd file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
OK
