Advanced Dairy Microbiology

Hygiene and safety of the dairy supply chain (3 CFU). Insights on the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis of viruses, pathogenic bacteria, bacterial toxins, mycotoxins. Sources of contamination, methods of prevention and control of pathogenic microorganisms in dairy industries. Management of the HACCP system. Analysis of microbiological risk. Safety criteria and process hygiene criteria. Prevalence of microbial groups in operation and process technologies: milk, powdered milk, fermented milk, butter, cheese, fresh cheeses, semi-hard and hard cheeses, by-products. Principles and applications of predictive microbiology. Molecular techniques for the identification and genotyping. Management of microbial cultures (3 CFU). Classification, primary and secondary metabolism of lactic acid bacteria. Bacterial cultures: the natural cultures (milk and whey cultures) and selected cultures (single strain, multiple strains, mixed strains). Criteria for strain selection. Non Lactic Acid Bacteria (Bifidobacteria, Propionibacteria, Enterococci, Brevibacteria), yeast and moulds used in dairy processing. Techniques of phenotypic and genotypic characterization of strains. Morphology and physiology of bacteriophages. Phage infection control in the dairy industry. Management of starter cultures.