Microbiological Quality of Spanish Aged Cheeses and the Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Associated Enterococci, Staphylococci and Enterobacterales

TL;DR

This study analyzed Spanish aged cheeses to assess their microbial quality and the antimicrobial resistance of bacteria like enterococci, staphylococci, and Enterobacterales.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into antimicrobial resistance profiles in cheese-associated bacteria from raw and pasteurized milk cheeses.

Findings

Raw milk cheeses showed higher microbial diversity compared to pasteurized milk cheeses.

Multi-resistant strains of E. faecalis, S. equorum, and Enterobacterales were identified, with notable resistance rates.

All E. coli isolates from raw milk cheeses were ESBL producers.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the microbiological quality of Spanish aged cheeses and the antimicrobial resistance of enterococci, staphylococci and Enterobacterales. A total of 60 aged cheeses produced in northern Spain were collected at the retail level. Mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria, staphylococci, enterococci, Enterobacterales, and yeast counts were determined. More microbial diversity was found in raw milk cheeses than in those elaborated with pasteurized milk. In general, lactic acid bacteria were the dominant microorganism, mainly Lactiplantibacillus lactis. High resistance rates were observed in E. faecalis strains isolated from raw milk cheeses (74.42%), being 9.30% multi-resistant. The dominant staphylococci found was Staphylococcus equorum. Multi-resistant S. equorum strains were isolated both from raw (1.69%) and pasteurized milk cheeses (9.09%). Hafnia alvei was the predominant bacterium in raw milk cheeses. Fifteen Enterobacterales strains, isolated from raw milk cheeses, showed multi-resistance (37.5%), and seven strains were ESBL producers (17.5%). Escherichia coli was only isolated from 5. 56% of raw milk cheeses, but all of them were extended-espectrum B-lactamase (ESBL) producers. The dominant yeast was D. hansenni, followed by Kluyveromyces lactis.

Figures