AISLAMIENTO E IDENTIFICACIÓN PRELIMINAR DE HONGOS CONTAMINANTES EN QUESO PAIPA DEL MUNICIPIO DE PAIPA, BOYACÁ. ISOLATION AND PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICATION OF CONTAMINANTS FUNGI IN THE PAIPA CHEESE FROM PAIPA, BOYACÁ.

Paipa cheese, the only typical Colombian cheese that involves a maturation process. The microbiological quality of the Paipa cheese was studied, from the point of view of the fungal flora of the cheese of a manufacturing plant in Paipa. Samples of milk and cheese, at different stages of maturation (1, 5 and 10 days). Subsequently, macroscopic and microscopic identification was done, and biochemical tests were performed in yeasts. In milk, the average count of filamentous fungi and yeasts was 3.88 log 10 CFU/g and 4.6 log 10 CFU/g, respectively. In cheese samples, filamentous fungi count was within the range of 1.43 and 2.52 log 10 CFU/g, and yeast counts were of 4.0 and 4.98 log 10 CFU/g. In milk and cheese samples, the mold genera found were Penicillium, Geotrichum , Fusarium , Botritys , and Phoma , along with the yeast genera Trichosporum beigell i, Candida rugosa , and Cryptococcus uniguttulatus and Rhodotorula spp. Some species of filamentous fungi and yeasts can potentially cause both economic and sensory problems, including the production of mycotoxins which can pose a risk to public health.