Mikrobiol. Z. 2018; 80(2):80-91.
doi: https://doi.org/10.15407/microbiolj80.02.080

Yeasts Associated with Salted Herring and Brine, Ukraine

Ianieva O.D., Ogirchuk K.S.

Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine
154 Akad. Zabolotny Str., Kyiv, 03143, Ukraine

Yeasts are unicellular eukaryotic microorganisms that are ubiquitously found in various food products especially in foods with low pH, low water activity or high sugar and salt content where most bacteria do not survive. Very little is known about yeast microbiota of processed food popular in Ukraine - salted herring. The aim of this work was to study yeast microbiota composition of salted herring, tolerance of isolated yeasts to various stress factors (salt and sugar stress, food preservatives) and hydrolytic activities that could contribute to the product spoilage. Methods. Yeast strains from salted herring were isolated by serial dilution method and identifed according to phenotypic characteristics. Stress tolerance and hydrolytic properties of the isolated strains have been studied. Results. 57 yeast strains were isolated from 10 samples of salted herring and brine obtained from markets and supermarkets in Ukraine. Yeast counts in the samples varied from zero up to 3.69 log10 CFU/ml or gram of the sample. The isolated yeasts were identifed as Debaryomyces hansenii (38 % of isolates), Candida sake (20 % of isolates), Candida zeylanoides (13 % of isolates), Yarrowia lipolytica (9 % of isolates) etc. Most yeasts isolated from salted herring possessed lypolytic activity (98 % of isolates) although only a small proportion of yeasts were strongly proteolytic (7 % of isolates). Most yeasts were non-fermentative (70 % of isolates). Yeasts from salted herring were highly sensitive to such food preservatives as sorbic acid (MIC 0.05 - 0.25 g/l) and acetic acid (MIC 0.1 - 1 g/l) at low pH and exhibited the broad range of tolerance to propionate and benzoate. Inhibitory efect of weak organic acids against isolated yeasts decreased manifold at higher pH (5.5). The high proportion of yeast isolates were highly halotolerant (MIC higher than 150 g/l NaCl) and could survive osmotic stress (50 % glucose). Conclusions. This work provides characterization of yeast microbiota of salted herring demonstrating its tolerance to salt and osmotic stress and sensitivity to food preservatives.

Keywords: salted herring, yeasts, stress tolerance, hydrolytic properties.

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