Culture-independent quantitative approach to monitoring the dynamics of bacterial population during the istrian cheese ripening

In order to preserve the specificity of artisanal cheeses and to minimize variations in quality, real time PCR can be applied to monitor dynamic of autochthonous bacterial population throughout the ripening. It may give the base for the selection of species and strains that can be used to deliver safe products with balanced texture and flavor, and moreover it can be applied to monitor abundance of slow growing or non culturable species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of real time PCR and plate count analysis in order to follow dynamic of lactic acid bacteria and enterobacteria during the ripening of traditional Istrian cheese. The abundance of all LAB bacteria was increased by ripening time and reached plateau after 90 d ripening. The present study demonstrated that lactococci counts were closest to total bacterial count irrespective of method applied, confirming Lactococcus spp. as one of the dominant bacterial groups associated with Istrian cheese. Enterobacteria were mainly present at early phases of cheese ripening, whereas at later time points a decrease was visible in samples from all farms.