Microbiology of brewing - Strictly anaerobic bacteria Megasphaera, Pectinatus, Zymophilus and Selenomonas and methods for their detection.

Abstract

Strictly anaerobic bacteria capable of spoiling beer or contaminating brewer's yeast belong to the genera Megasphaera, Pectinatus, Selenomonas and Zymophilus. This article gives an overview of basic morphological and physiological properties of this group of bacteria, describes the sites of their occurrence in the brewing operation and their ability to spoil beer. It also describes various methods for detection and identification of these microbes - cultivation methods, methods based on PCR, MALDI-TOF MS, and others.Strictly anaerobic bacteria capable of spoiling beer or contaminating brewer's yeast belong to the genera Megasphaera, Pectinatus, Selenomonas and Zymophilus. This article gives an overview of basic morphological and physiological properties of this group of bacteria, describes the sites of their occurrence in the brewing operation and their ability to spoil beer. It also describes various methods for detection and identification of these microbes - cultivation methods, methods based on PCR, MALDI-TOF MS, and others.

Keywords

• Megasphaera
• Pectinatus
• beer
• secondary contamination
• Selenomonas
• strictly anaerobic bacteria
• Zymophilus