ABSTRACT
Filamentous fungi and yeasts can be associated to various pathologies in man and animals. It must be considered that milk and dairy products when contaminated with these microorganisms can represent a potential means of zoonosis transmission. In the present study, 70 samples of raw milk were analysed, 50 from bulk tanks, 10 from milk cans from dairy farms, and 10 from cans of distributors that store and sell milk sold on the informal (unregulated) market, comparing the quality of these products as to the presence and quantity of fungi. Moulds and yeasts were isolated in different percentages from all of the samples of the different sources: Candida spp. (C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, C. tropicalis, C. kefyr etc.), Geotrichum spp., Rhodotorula spp., Trichosporon spp., Aureobasidium spp., Penicillium spp., Acremonium spp., Chrysosporium spp., Mucor spp. and Aspergillus spp. No statistically significant difference was observed between medians of the quantity of colonies forming units of fungi/mL of milk from the different sources, indicating that the level of contamination by fungi was similar when the three sources were compared. The presence of fungi was observed in all samples of raw milk, all these microorganisms able to cause opportunistic mycoses.
KEY WORDS
Raw milk; yeasts; filamentous fungi