PRESENCE OF CARNOBACTERIUM SPP IN FRENCH SURFACE MOLD-RIPENED SOFT-CHEESE

Thirty-six 'atypical lactobacilli', randomly picked from five surface mould-ripened soft-cheeses, were characterized by physiological and chemical, including DNA, analyses. This homofermentative, non-aciduric and psychrotrophic group represented the major bacterial flora with counts between 10(8) and 10(9) cfu g(-1). Common characteristics were the production of L-(+)-lactic acid enantiomer, the presence of meso-diaminopimelic acid in the peptidoglycan, the hydrolysis of arginine and the failure to produce acid from sorbitol. On the basis of the description of the genus Carnobacterium (Collins et al. 1987), 33 isolates were assigned to C. piscicola and three to C. divergens. Antibacterial substance production was observed for 16 isolates, with a narrow spectrum of activity. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Carnobacterium spp. in mould-ripened soft-cheese.