Bacterial evaluation of Zacazonapan artisanal cheese matured under non-controlled conditions in two production periods

Abstract

Traditional Zacazonapan cheeses have unique organoleptic characteristics and are characterized by being linked to the territory of origin. In the maturation process, there are many interactive variables that are responsible for physical, chemical, biological and structural changes. In order to evaluate the bacteriological evolution of artisanal cheeses during their maturation under non-controlled conditions in two production periods, samples of raw milk and cheese were collected at 0, 30, 60, 120 and 150 d of maturation. The presence of molds and yeasts (MaY), mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB), Staphylococcus spp. (Staph), total coliforms (TC), fecal coliforms (FC), Salmonella spp. (Salm) and Listeria spp. (List) was determined. The average microbial load was 9.68, 9.38, 8.55 and 8.10 log10 CFU/g of cheese for MaY, MAB, Staph and TC respectively, as well as 2.68 log10 MPN/g of cheese for FC. Salm was not detected but List was. The microbiological evolution of Zacazonapan matured cheese had counts that exceed the maximum levels of the Official Mexican Standard 243 SSA1 2010.