Microflora of Pressurized Edam Cheese

Magdalena Kuzmicka, Krystyna Wisniewska and Arnold Reps

Pressurization is a modern method of food processing and preservation. This paper discusses the effect of high pressure (200 and 400 MPa) on the microflora of ripening cheese. Cheese with a different ripening degree was subjected to a microbiological analysis which involved determination of the total bacteria count as well as the numbers of lactic streptococci, coli group bacteria, Clostridium, Listeria and Salmonella. After pressurization at 400 MPa, the number of lactic streptococci and total bacteria count decreased by 2-4 orders of magnitude. The high pressure did not result in the inactivation of technologically-undesirable bacteria.