Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus Lactobacillus delbrueckii" subsp. "bulgaricus (until 2014 known as Lactobacillus bulgaricus) is the main bacteria used for the production of yogurt. It is also found in other naturally fermented products. First identified in 1905 by the Bulgarian doctor Stamen Grigorov, the bacterium feeds on lactose to produce lactic acid, which is used to preserve milk. "Lactobacillus delbrueckii" subsp. "bulgaricus" can be found naturally in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals living in Bulgaria, but one specific strain, "Lactobacillus bulgaricus" GLB44, is extracted from the leaves of the "Galanthus nivalis" (snowdrop flower) in Bulgaria as well. The bacterium is
Galanthus nivalis (flowering stalk), which bears at the top a pair of bract-like spathe valves joined by a papery membrane. From between them emerges a solitary, pendulous, bell-shaped white flower, held on a slender pedicel. The flower consists of six tepals, also referred to as segments. The outer three are larger and more convex than the inner ones. The inner flower segments are usually marked on their outer surface with a green or greenish-yellow V- or U-shaped mark (sometimes described as "bridge-shaped") over the small sinus (notch) at the tip of each tepal. The inner surface has a faint green mark covering