Nonstarter Bacterial Communities in Aged Cheddar Cheese: Patterns on Two Timescales.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal stability of microbial contamination during cheddar cheese production by examining patterns of nonstarter bacteria in 60-day aged cheddar collected from the start and end of 30 consecutive production days. Further, we explored the source of these temporal microbial variations by comparing microbial communities in the aged cheese to those on food contact surfaces from a piece of cheesemaking equipment previously identified as a major source of nonstarter bacteria in the same processing environment. 16S rRNA metabarcoding and culture-based sequencing methods identified two Streptococcus sequence variants significantly associated with the end of the production day in both the aged cheese and the cheese processing environment. Closer inspec

SUBMITTER: Johnson J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8788695 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature