Mycotoxigenic and phylogenetic perspective to the yeasts and filamentous moulds in mould-matured Turkish cheese

Highlighting the Microbial Community of Kuflu Cheese, an Artisanal Turkish Mold-Ripened Variety, by High-Throughput Sequencing

“…These are not surprising results, because this genus was reported to be one of the most common yeasts in several cheese varieties such as Tilsit, Reblochon, Surk, moldy Civil, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Danablu, Bleu d’avuergne, Bleu de Bresse, and Valdeon cheeses ( De Boer and Kuik, 1987 ). Surprisingly, one of the most remarkable findings of this study is the fact that Aspergillus genus, commonly associated with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis producing potential, were not detected in any of the Kuflu cheese samples contrary to a study conducted by Onmaz et al (2021) on mold-ripened Turkish cheese varieties. Besides, another finding of this study showed that Dipodascus genus was amongst the five most prevalent genera in half of the Kuflu cheese samples with relative abundances ranging from 0.29% to 2.58% and also Kluyveromyces genus did not constitute an important part of the yeast community of Kuflu cheese (0.1%–1.78%), which is different from the previous reports on mold-ripened cheeses ( Desmasures, 2014 ; Yildiz et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Regarding the taxonomic distribution of fungi at genus level, members of the Penicillium genus were determined with increasing relative abundances in 9 out of the 10 Kuflu cheese samples ranging from 65.38% to 91.46% (in MC1 and MC10, respectively). These findings regarding the high abundances of Penicillium in mold-ripened Kuflu cheeses were confirmed by a recent study of Onmaz et al (2021) in which the microbiota of mold-ripened Turkish cheeses. Indeed, this is an expected result since Penicillium spp.…”

“…In this aspect, determining the microbial community of artisanal cheeses is the key to enabling a safer and more beneficial cheese production by preserving the manufacturing practices, characteristic flavor, aroma, and texture of the product for many years. Hence, numerous studies have been executed on microbial diversity and dynamics of artisanal cheeses and possible microbial interactions during ripening over the last few years ( Demirci et al, 2021 ; Dimov et al, 2021 ; Dugat-Bony et al, 2016 ; Onmaz et al, 2021 ). As a result of this interest, novel molecular techniques, such as 16S/ITS-based high-throughput sequencing, are frequently used to detect the microbiota of regional cheeses and their ripening roles worldwide ( Dimov et al, 2021 ; Murugesan et al, 2018 ).…”

“…With regards to the bacterial or fungal composition of artisanal Kuflu cheese or other mold-ripened Turkish varieties, some researchers have executed important studies using culture-dependent methods ( Seri and Metin, 2021 ) and culturomics ( Onmaz et al., 2021 ), however, to the best of our knowledge there is no metagenomic study of the microbiota of such cheese. As a matter of fact, metagenomic next generation sequencing has a superior capability to characterize the conserved and variable regions of the bacterial 16S or eukaryotic rRNA genes for the purpose of taxonomic classification.…”

Occurrence, Risk Implications, Prevention and Control of CIT in Monascus Cheese: A Review

“…Similarly, the introduction of PS reduced the maximum specific growth rate of Penicillium brevicompactum by 38% while exhibiting a 2.6-fold promotion of the synthesis of mycophenolic acid (MPA). MPA is a fungal toxin with significant immunosuppressive effects and has been detected in many cheese products, especially mold-ripened cheese. − This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies and shows that the inhibitory effects of preservatives on fungi vary depending on the species and physiological traits of the strain. − …”