Microbiological Study of Fresh White Cheese (A Serbian Craft Variety)

The levels of several microbial groups of aerobic mesophilic flora, aerobic psychrotrophic flora, lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcaceae, enterococci, Enterobacteriaceae, and molds and yeasts were investigated during the manufacture of fresh white cheese of a Serbian craft variety without the addition of starter culture.This variety of cheese is made in farmhouses from cow, sheep and goat's milk.White fresh cheese from mountain villages of Serbia has economical importance for this area.The study of the microbial characteristics of this cheese constitutes the first step towards the establishment of a starter culture which would allow the making of a product both more uniform and safer.The total microbial counts were high in these variety of cheeses.Almost all the microbial groups reached their maximum counts in curd.Lactic acid bacteria were the major microbial group, reaching count similar to the total aerobic mesophilic flora at all sampling points.Lactococcus lactis subsp.lactis dominated in milk (62,5%) of the isolates obtained in the Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) agar at these sampling points, while the Lactobacillus casei subs.casei was the most predominant species (83,5% of isolates obtained at these sampling points).The purpose of this study was to investigate the microflora of white cheeses with special emphasis on the autochthonous lactic acid bacteria involved in fermentation of this cheeses depending on the geographical location where the cheeses were manufactured.Keywords.white soft cheese