Mold ve Maya Count

Mold and Yeast Count
Mold and Yeast Count

Mold and yeast counting is a very important quality indicator in foodstuffs that are kept in the open air before the packaging process due to the applied production technology, which may be contaminated from the packaging materials used even if the foodstuffs are pasteurized, and which are not processed by other technological processes other than washing and freezing and marketed to the consumers.

The number of molds is very high in spice type, products which are in contact with the soil and are milled and packaged without even washing. On the other hand, the amount of yeast is higher in sugar products.

Generally, total yeast and mold numbers are considered together in food microbiology. As in total bacterial count analysis, the total number of mold and yeast cells colonized with appropriate incubation conditions on a suitable medium gives the count of mold and yeast. In general, these two groups of microorganisms grow easily in the analysis performed with the media commonly used for yeast and molds.

In many generally accepted standards, the total number of molds and yeasts is taken into account together. However, mold and yeast counts are demanded separately in commercial applications. In this case, these two groups of microorganisms are counted separately by considering the colony morphology of the media, or different media are used according to the purpose. For example, sodium propionate is added at a concentration of 0,25 percent to the medium composition for growth of yeasts alone and mold growth is inhibited. Total mold and yeast counts are usually incubated at 25-28 degrees and 5 days.

Mold and yeast counting studies are carried out in authorized laboratories within the scope of microbiological analyzes. During these studies, standards and test methods issued by domestic and foreign organizations are followed. TS ISO 21527-1 and TS ISO 21527-2 standards are taken into consideration.