Quantification of psychrotrophic bacteria and molecular identification of Pseudomonas fluorescens in refrigerated raw milk

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated the contamination of refrigerated raw milk produced in the western region of Paraná, southern Brazil, with psychrotrophic microorganisms, aiming to assay the proteolytic activity of the isolates and to identify Pseudomonas fluorescens, the main proteolytic species associated with the spoilage of milk products. Raw milk samples from 50 dairy farms were submitted to the counting of psychrotrophic microorganisms, being the microbiota characterized by its mesophilic behavior and proteolytic capacity, besides molecular identification of P. fluorescens. Of the samples evaluated, 94% had psychrotrophic counts ranging from 3 to 7.1 log CFU mL-1, and 48.5% of these showed mesophilic behavior. Of the isolates, 48.0% had proteolytic activity in at least one evaluated temperature (21 and 30°C), and 39.3% had proteolytic activity in both temperatures. Among the 61 isolates submitted to molecular identification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 86.8% contained the expression of the 16S gene characteristic for P. fluorescens. In this study, we demonstrated that P. fluorescens is the most prevalent psychrotrophic bacteria species in raw refrigerated milk and their proteolytic ability poses high risks to the dairy industry.