Occurrence and pathogenicity of Candida spp. in unpasteurized Cheese

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pathogenicity of the most common species of the genus Candida isolated from artisanal cheese produced in a city, in in Santa Catarina countryside. A total of 251 strains of Candida were isolated, with growth capacity at 37 °C, from the analysis of 45 artisanal cheese samples. Of these, 2.4% were identified as C. albicans and 97.6% as Candida non-albicans, which were distributed in 79.3% of C. krusei, 12.3% of C. glabrata and 6.0% C. tropicalis. Regarding to the activity of the proteinase enzyme, the production was observed in 0.8% of the samples. About 0.4% of yeast isolates showed strong production of biofilm on polystyrene screening test. According to this data, it was found a large prevalence of non-albicans Candida isolated in artisanal cheese with potential capacity for development and colonization due to the human body temperature.
Key words: cheese, Candida, Candida non-albicans, prevalence, biofilm.