Diversity and activities of yeasts from different parts of a Stilton cheese

Konstantinos Gkatzionis, Dewi Yunita, Robert S.t. Linforth, Matthew Dickinson, Christine E R Dodd

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Blue cheeses are very complex food matrices presenting significant spatial differentiation between sections and the Stilton variety also has a hard brown crust making its matrix even more complex. The mycobiota communities in the three sections (blue veins, white core and outer crust) of a Stilton blue cheese were studied by employing culture-independent (TRFLP, DGGE) and culture-dependent analyses. Yeasts isolated from the cheese were studied for aroma production in a dairy model system with and without the starter Lactococcus lactis and filamentous fungus Penicillium roqueforti using SPME GC–MS. Significant qualitative and quantitative differences were observed in the yeast communities between the cheese sections with all the techniques. Yarrowia lipolytica presented strong synergistic activity with P. roqueforti enhancing the production of ketone aroma compounds, characteristic of blue cheeses. Culture techniques allowed the observation of the presence and uneven distribution of two different morphological groups of Debaryomyces hansenii in the different sections and of Trichosporon ovoides but failed to isolate Candida catenulata which dominated some parts of the cheese in the culture-independent analysis. This suggests that this species may be an important early coloniser but fails to survive into the final cheese. The study indicated that the yeast flora in the cheese sections differ including isolates that could affect their aroma profiles.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)109-116
JournalInternational Journal of Food Microbiology
Volume177
Early online date26 Feb 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2014

Keywords

  • TRFLP
  • DGGE
  • SPME GC–MS
  • Stilton blue cheese
  • Yeasts

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Diversity and activities of yeasts from different parts of a Stilton cheese'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this