GROWTH DYNAMIC OF EWES’ LUMP CHEESE MICROFLORA

Abstract

The preparation of ewes’ lump cheese has been known in Slovakia for a long time. It is made from raw or pasteurized ewes’ milk, especially due to the activity of lactic acid bacteria. The encouragement of the acidification process by the starters is profitable to use with the respect to the quality of the product. In our study we focused on the growth analysis of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in ewes’ cheeses prepared in laboratory conditions with or without addition of starter culture from raw or heat treated milk. According to our experimental data, the addition of the lactic acid bacteria culture and the following pH decrease on the levels lower than 5.0 for 1 to 2 days were able to inhibit the growth of S. aureus and E. coli on concentrations lower than 104 CFU/g required by European Union legislation. The growth data found in this work may provide the information for food technologists and microbiologists to get the studied organisms under the control. doi:10.5219/52

Keywords

• Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, ewes’ lump cheese, lactic acid bacteria, predictive microbiology