MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF WATER BUFFALO YOGHURTS RETAILED IN KAYSERI

The purpose of this study was to determine the microbiological quality of water buffalo yoghurts sold at retail in Kayseri province of Turkey. Total 100 yoghurt samples were collected from public bazaars of the centre and four different districts of Kayseri. Samples were analyzed for the presence and numbers of total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., yeast, moulds, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Among the samples analyzed, 18 (18%), 9 (9%) and 6 (6%) of the samples were found to be contaminated with coliforms, E. coli and S. aureus with the mean counts of 14.8±0.24 MPN/g, 1.85±0.18 MPN/g and 4.9±0.21 log10 cfu/g respectively. In addition, all of the samples found to be contaminated with yeast, moulds, TAMB and LAB with the mean numbers (as log10cfu/g) of 5.21±0.10, 5.16±0.08,7.72±0.14 and 6.58±0.18 respectively. Salmonella spp. was not isolated from any samples. The results of this study demonstrated that water buffalo yoghurt samples examined in the study do not meet cover the microbiological criteria of the Turkish Food Codex Communique on Fermented Milk and also seven samples were found to be contaminated with S. aureus not included in the communique, but defined as hazard in terms of food safety.