Evaluation of Hygienic and Mycological Quality of Local Cheese Marketed in Benin

Th e Peu lh ch ees e, locally kn o wn as W aran g as h i, is wid es p read an d more co n s u med a mo n g local products resulting from the transformation of cow's milk in Benin. The present study proposes to inv es tig ate th e p h y s ico ch emical ch aracteris tics , th e h y g ien ic q u ality an d t h e le v e l of aflato xin s in lo cal ch ees e marketed in Ben in . Twen ty -th ree v ario u s ch ees e s amp les co llected fro m markets an d Peu lh s ites were analyzed. The determined phys icochemical characteris tics varied (res pectively 39.14 %, 1.14 % and 22.9 % on average of total s olid s c o n t e n t, lactic acid and fat content) with a pH around 6.41. All ana ly ze d s amples were free of Staphylococcus a ureus and Salmonella sp. the proportion of unsatisfied samples was 100 % with regard to the total number of coliforms and Escherichia coli especially. The isolated fungi from the preserved cheese samples were Absidia spp, Alternaria spp, Mucor spp, Cladosporium spp, Fusarium spp and Penicillium spp, with a predominance of the latter. A ll the tes ted s amples s howed aflatoxin rates below the limit of detection of 4 ppb.