A team of European researchers recreated a nearly forgotten yogurt using ants, according to a study published in the Cell Press journal iScience. Once popular across the Balkans and Turkey, this yogurt relies on acids and enzymes in ants to start the fermentation process, turning milk into yogurt. The authors suggest using traditional methods can bring new and creative approaches to food.
“Today’s yogurts are typically made with just two bacterial strains,” said senior author Leonie Jahn from the Technical University of Denmark. “If you look at traditional yogurt, you have much bigger biodiversity, varying based on location, households, and season. That brings more flavors, textures, and personality.”
Red wood ants (Formica species) are common in the Balkans and Turkey, where this yogurt-making technique was once popular. To understand how ants can be used to make yogurt, the researchers visited co-author and anthropologist Sevgi Mutlu Sirakova’s family village in Bulgaria, where her relatives and other locals still remember the tradition.
“We dropped four whole ants into a jar of warm milk by the instruction of Sevgi’s uncle and community members,” recalled lead author Veronica Sinotte of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The jar was then placed into an ant mound to ferment. By the next day, the milk had started to thicken and sour. “That’s an early stage of yogurt, and it tasted that way as well.” The researchers described the taste as slightly tangy, herbaceous, and having flavors of grass-fed fat.
Back in the lab in Denmark, the team examined the science behind the ant yogurt. It turned out that ants carry lactic and acetic acid bacteria. Acids produced by these bacteria help coagulate the dairy. One type of these bacteria was similar to those used to make commercial sourdough.
In addition, the insects themselves help to make yogurt. As part of their chemical defense, ants have formic acid. This chemical acidifies the milk, affects its texture, and likely creates an environment for yogurt’s acid-loving microbes to thrive. Finally, enzymes from the ant and the microbes work together to break down milk proteins and turn milk into yogurt.
To test out the contemporary culinary possibilities of ant yogurt, the team partnered with chefs at Alchemist, a two-star Michelin restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, who gave the traditional yogurt a modern twist. They served guests several recipes, including yogurt ice-cream sandwiches shaped like an ant, mascarpone-like cheeses with a pungent tang, and cocktails clarified with a milk wash—all inspired by ant yogurt and using the insect as a key ingredient.
“Giving scientific evidence that these traditions have a deep meaning and purpose, even though they might seem strange or more like a myth, I think that’s really beautiful,” said Jahn. “I hope people recognize the importance of community and maybe listen a little closer when their grandmother shares a recipe or memory that seems unusual,” said Sinotte. “Learning from these practices and creating space for biocultural heritage in our foodways is important.”
Sinotte, V et al. Making yogurt with the ant holobiont uncovers bacteria, acids, and enzymes for food fermentation, iScience, Volume 0, Issue 0, 113595, https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)01856-5