Q.Swiss cheese is known for its large holes and distinctive flavour. Which bacterium is responsible for this, and what gas does it release during ripening that creates the characteristic holes?

[!TLDR] Propionibacterium shermanii ripens Swiss cheese, releasing CO2 gas that forms the large holes. …

Swiss cheese owes its distinctive large holes and sharp, nutty flavour to the bacterium Propionibacterium shermanii, used to ripen the cheese. During maturation, this bacterium ferments compounds in the cheese and, in doing so, produces large amounts of carbon dioxide gas. Because the cheese mass is relatively solid, this gas cannot escape freely and instead accumulates in localised pockets, producing the large, rounded holes for which Swiss cheese is well known. The same fermentation process also yields propionic acid as a by-product, which c …

Name the specific bacterium (not a generic 'bacteria'), then connect the gas it releases directly to the physical formation of the …

A frequent mistake is attributing the holes to air trapped during cheese-making rather than correctly identifying them as a d …