Impact of microbial population in environments of sugar industry on the sugar microbiological quality

NÚÑEZ CAROLINA; GUSILS CARLOS; RUIZ MARCELO; CÁRDENAS GERÓNIMO

BIOCELL

Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos". CONICET

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2008 vol. 32 p. 93 - 93

0327-9545

During the last crop (2006) we visited six mills in the province of Tucumán, taking sugar and environmental samples by duplicate from centrifuges, dryers and packaging sectors, where Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are followed. To determine the presence of aerobic mesophiles (AM), fungi and yeasts, official filtration techniques established by the International Commission for Uniform Methods (ICUMSA) and the gravity method were used, respectively. In all the sugar factories surveyed and the sectors specifically analyzed, it was noted that there is a remarkable influence of environmental pollution on sugar microbiological quality. Two of the six factories studied submitted environmental contamination by yeasts from the drying sector to packaging lines, which determines high counts of these microorganisms in sugar handled in these sectors. Environment and sugar sample yeasts presented similar microscopic and morphological characteristics. One of the sugar mills surveyed showed better applications of GMP in the areas analyzed and sugar produced there had a better microbiological quality.