Minoru Shirota

Dr. Minoru Shirota (代田稔 April 23, 1899 - March 10, 1982) was the inventor of Yakult, the yogurt-like probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei strain shirota. In 1930, Dr. Minoru Shirota, working in a microbiology lab at Kyoto Imperial University's School of Medicine, became the first in the world to succeed in culturing a strain of lactic acid bacteria beneficial to human health. This bacterium was named Lactobacillus casei strain shirota after Shirota.
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