Diversity of moulds on the Petrovská klobása raw materials, casings and in the processing unit environment

Abstract

Petrovská klobása, traditional dry fermented sausage, is very susceptible for contamination with moulds, originating from raw materials and the environment. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify moulds that contaminate raw materials used for Petrovská klobása production and its casings, as well as to survey ecology of the processing environment - surfaces and air. Total mould counts in components ranged from 1.60 (mechanically mixed batter) to 4.14 (red hot paprika powder) log10 CFU·g-1, while the number of moulds isolated from sausage casings ranged from 0.01 (S3 sausage, 217th day) to 1.60 (S1 sausage, 270th day) log10 CFU·cm-2. The highest contamination of environmental surfaces involved in production process was observed on stuffing machine and hands of worker on stuffing (1.41 log10 CFU·cm-2), while the highest contamination of air was noticed on the first sampling in industrial facility (1.89 log10 CFU·cm-2). Identification of isolated moulds showed very high diversity of species. From components, 14 species from 4 genera were identified, from surface samples 10 species from 2 genera and from air - 20 species belonged to 6 genera. Isolated species predominantly belonged to genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Eurotium. The majority of species are xerophilic, which is in accordance with low water activity of sausages, temperature and relative humidity in ripening chambers measured during experiment. © 2012 University of Bucharest.