<P> Yogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt (/ ˈjoʊɡərt / or / ˈjɒɡət /; from Turkish: yoğurt; other spellings listed below) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk . The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as "yogurt cultures". Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tart flavor . Cow's milk is commonly available worldwide, and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt . Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, and yaks is also used to produce yogurt where available locally . Milk used may be homogenized or not (milk distributed in many parts of the world is homogenized); both types may be used, with substantially different results . </P> <P> Yogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp . bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria . In addition, other lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are also sometimes added during or after culturing yogurt . Some countries require yogurt to contain a certain amount of colony - forming units (CFU) of bacteria; in China, for example, the requirement for the number of lactobacillus bacteria is at least 1 × 10 CFU per milliliter . </P> <P> To produce yogurt, milk is first heated, usually to about 85 ° C (185 ° F), to denature the milk proteins so that they do not form curds . After heating, the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 ° C (113 ° F). The bacterial culture is mixed in, and a temperature of 45 ° C (113 ° F) is maintained for four to twelve hours to allow fermentation . </P> <P> The word is derived from Turkish: yoğurt, and is usually related to the verb yoğurmak, "to knead", or "to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken". It may be related to yoğun, meaning thick or dense . The sound ğ was traditionally rendered as "gh" in transliterations of Turkish from around 1615--1625 . In modern Turkish the letter ğ marks a diaeresis between two vowels, without being pronounced itself, which is reflected in some languages' versions of the word (e.g. Greek γιαούρτι giaoúrti, French yaourt, Romanian iaurt). In English, the several variations of the spelling of the word include yogurt, yoghurt, and to a lesser extent yoghourt or yogourt . </P>

Where does the protein in yogurt come from