Temporal and Spatial Differences in Microbial Composition during the Manufacture of a Continental-Type Cheese

Abstract

We sought to determine if the time, within a production day, that a cheese is manufactured has an influence on the microbial community present within that cheese. To facilitate this, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to elucidate the microbial community dynamics of brine-salted continental-type cheese in cheeses produced early and late in the production day. Differences in the microbial composition of the core and rind of the cheese were also investigated. Throughout ripening, it was apparent that cheeses produced late in the day had a more diverse microbial population than their early equivalents. Spatial variation between the cheese core and rind was also noted in that cheese rinds were initially found to have a more diverse microbial population but thereafter the opposite was the case. Interestingly, the genera Thermus, Pseudoalteromonas, and Bifidobacterium, not routinely associated with a continental-type cheese produced from pasteurized milk, were detected. The significance, if any, of the presence of these genera will require further attention. Ultimately, the use of high-throughput sequencing has facilitated a novel and detailed analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of microbes in this complex cheese system and established that the period during a production cycle at which a cheese is manufactured can influence its microbial composition.

Impacts of Seasonal Housing and Teat Preparation on Raw Milk Microbiota: a High-Throughput Sequencing Study

“…For instance, in milk samples from cows that were not subjected to teat prep, Gram-positive and gut-associated genera, such as Ruminococcus, Eremococcus, and Ruminococcaceae Incertae Sedis, were more prevalent in indoor than in outdoor samples, and uncultured Corynebacteriales were more prevalent in indoor than in outdoor samples. Ruminococcus and Ruminococcaceae Incertae Sedis are both gut-associated genera, although, from a dairy perspective, Ruminococcaceae Incertae Sedis has previously been found in continental-type cheese (17), and Ruminococcus has been detected in raw milk (18), and in the present study these organisms were detected in higher proportions in INP (no prep indoors) milk than in ONP (no prep outdoors) milk. While relatively little is known about the uncultured Corynebacteriales, the cultured equivalent contains species known to cause mastitis (19), as well as other species that are found on the surfaces of surface-ripened cheese (20).…”

Microbiota of an Italian Grana-Like Cheese during Manufacture and Ripening, Unraveled by 16S rRNA-Based Approaches

“…In addition, milk supplied to the farm is not always immediately processed. In particular, the storage conditions and storage time before the processing can favor the growth and the development of minor microbiota which can become dominant, leading to unacceptable quality of the final dairy product (42,43).…”

Metagenomics insights into food fermentations

“…In other studies, the microbiota was related to raw material origin (Bokulich et al ., 2014a; Rizzello et al ., 2015) or quality (Dolci et al ., 2014; O'Sullivan et al ., 2015; Alessandria et al ., 2016), as well as to development of flavour‐impact compounds (De Pasquale et al ., 2014a, 2016; De Filippis et al ., 2016a). Moreover, food‐related environments were found to harbour a resident microbiota, beneficially involved in dairy (Bokulich and Mills, 2013a; Stellato et al ., 2015; Calasso et al ., 2016), alcoholic (Bokulich et al ., 2012a, 2014b) and sourdough (Minervini et al ., 2015) fermentations, although the presence of potential spoilers was also emphasized in some cases (Bokulich et al ., 2015a; Stellato et al ., 2015).…”