Determination of some virulence factors of Candida spp. isolated from locally produced cheese in Diyala Governorate-Iraq

Abstract

Locally produced cheese which called (Gibin Al arab) is one of the most common dairy products in Iraq, it has an economic importance and great social value. This research aimed to identify yeast species from locally produced cheese (Gibin Al Arab) in Diyala city which traditionally made and sold in markets of old town in Baquba, and study some of virulence factors (Esterase production, Phospholipase and Hemolytic production) of yeasts belong to genus of Candida . All cheese samples showed contamination with varying number of yeast, total 88 yeast isolates obtained from 70 cheese samples, they were Geotrichum candidum(20.5%), Rhodotorela species(19.4%), Candida parapsilosis (18%), Candida albicans (13.6%), Candida tropicalis (10.5%), Candida krusei (8%), Saccharomyces cerevisice (3.3%) and mixed yeast (un identified) at rate of (6.7%). Species of Candida formed half of the total isolates and the most prevalent isolate of Candida spp. was Candida parapsilosis .According to the results determining of (Esterase production, Phospholipase and Hemolytic production) as a virulence factors identifying Candida spp. these activities referred that all isolates of Candida spp. show one or more of these activities and that isolates of medically important species Candida albicans were the most virulent isolates. this referred to the importance of take attention about consuming of such types of dairy products and need for applying more hygienic measures during handling, processing of milk and form of storage and/or selling of cheese.

Keywords

• Yeast isolation, chesses, Candida albicans, virulence factors.