Adhesion of Candida spp. and pichia spp. to wooden surfaces

Abstract

Yeast adhesion to and biofi lm formation on surfaces is present in many diff erent environments. In food industry, biofi lms may be a source of contaminations, causing food spoilage and reducing quality of products. Candida and Pichia are two common yeast genera involved in the spoilage of some food products. The aim of this study is to assess the potential of Candida and Pichia species to adhere to two types of wooden surfaces (smooth and rough), one of the materials typical for the food processing industry, and investigate the infl uence of surface roughness of wood on the degree of yeast adhesion. The adhesion of the cells to the wooden surfaces was determined by rinsing them from the surface, followed by methylene blue staining, and quantifi cation aft er imaging under microscope by automatic counting of viable cells. The results showed that all Candida and Pichia strains were able to adhere to the wooden surfaces in a species- and strain-dependent manner. On the other hand, our data indicated that adhesion by these yeasts was not signifi cantly affected by the roughness of the wood surfaces.