Open Access Asian-Australas J Anim Sci Vol. 33, No. 6:1002-1011 June 2020 https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.19.0553 pISSN 1011-2367 eISSN 1976-5517 Characterisation of fungal contamination sources for use in quality management of cheese production farms in Korea Sujatha Kandasamy1,a, Won Seo Park1,a, Jayeon Yoo1, Jeonghee Yun1, Han Byul Kang1, Kuk-Hwan Seol1, Mi-Hwa Oh1, and Jun Sang Ham1,* * Corresponding Author: Jun Sang Ham Objective: This study was conducted to determine the composition and diversity of the fungal Tel: +82-63-238-7366, Fax: +82-63-238-7397, E-mail:
[email protected] flora at various control points in cheese ripening rooms of 10 dairy farms from six different provinces in the Republic of Korea. 1 Animal Products Research and Development Methods: Floor, wall, cheese board, room air, cheese rind and core were sampled from cheese Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Korea ripening rooms of ten different dairy farms. The molds were enumerated using YM petrifilm, while isolation was done on yeast extract glucose chloramphenicol agar plates. Morphologically a Both the authors contributed equally to this work. distinct isolates were identified using sequencing of internal transcribed spacer region. ORCID Results: The fungal counts in 8 out of 10 dairy farms were out of acceptable range, as per Sujatha Kandasamy hazard analysis critical control point regulation. A total of 986 fungal isolates identified https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1460-449X and assigned to the phyla Ascomycota (14 genera) and Basidiomycota (3 genera). Of these Won Seo Park https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2229-3169 Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium were the most diverse and predominant.