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VOL. 7, ISSUE 1 (2025)
Control of fungal prevalence through manipulation stages of soft cheese, using chitosan and essential oils
Authors
Anwer SM El-Badry, Amira HA El-Haw, Rasha HS El-Ahl
Abstract
The current study aimed to determine the
fungal population in two-hundred soft kareish cheese and processed cheese
samples, 100 of each, collected from Gharbiya governorate's groceries; followed
by estimation of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in some of the examined samples. Moreover,
an experimental study was conducted for reduction of the fungal count in
cheese. Results revealed positive contamination of 36.0% of the total examined
samples; where kareish cheese showed higher fungal prevalence than processed
cheese. Although, Aspergillus species revealed the highest prevalence ratio, A.
niger particularly, in the examined samples, Penicillium, Fusarium, Phoma,
Alternaria and Geotrichum species were also detected in lower prevalence.
Moreover, 32.0% and 22.2% of kareish and processed cheese samples had AFM1,
with mean values of 0.49 and 0.36 µg/kg, respectively. On the other hand,
addition of chitosan, marjoram essential oil and mustard essential oil showed
significant antifungal effect; which appeared to be dose dependent, where
higher concentration gave more reduction effect. In addition, chitosan had the
superiority as an antifungal substrate, where it revealed reduction in the A.
niger count by 97.7% within two days of incubation, followed by mustard EO
and marjoram EO, respectively. Food safety and quality are the main topics
concerning with the consumer, therefore, continuous searching for natural food
additives of antimicrobial effect has been demanded.
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Pages:10-16
How to cite this article:
Anwer SM El-Badry, Amira HA El-Haw, Rasha HS El-Ahl "Control of fungal prevalence through manipulation stages of soft cheese, using chitosan and essential oils". International Journal of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Vol 7, Issue 1, 2025, Pages 10-16
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