Avaliação do potencial enterotoxigênico de linhagens de Staphylococcus coagulase positiva isoladas de queijos minas artesanal

Abstract

In Brazil, Minas artisanal cheese (MAC) are traditionally made from raw milk, which can carry pathogens and / or their toxins responsible for food-borne diseases. Therefore, the traditional MAC can pose risks to human health when produced without both the necessary quality requirements and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Among the possible pathogens present in MAC are the enterotoxigenic strains of Staphylococcus spp., which are responsible for human outbreaks in Brazil and in the world. As enterotoxins are already ready in the food they cause signs and symptoms after a short incubation period. Thus, the enterotoxigenic potential of Staphylococcus coagulase positive isolated from MAC was tested for the SEA, SEB, SEC and SED enterotoxins by the Optimum Sensitive Plate (OSP) method. In order to reach this objective, MAC samples of 25 small producers from 8 municipalities of the Minas Gerais state of Brazil were analysed. Of the 25 small producers, 21 produced MACs that did not meet the maximum coagulase Staphylococcus positive counts established by the current legislation (RDC.12-2001 MS). Among the non-standard samples, nine were potentially capable of causing food poisoning because they had a count above 105 CFU/g, although isolated strains had a low enterotoxigenic potential for the four enterotoxins tested, with only one isolate producing SEA. It is emphasized, however, that only four types of enterotoxins were analyzed in this study, which does not exempt the isolates from potentially producing other untested enterotoxins.