Pesquisa de Enterococcus spp. resistentes a antimicrobianos e formadores de biofilme em queijo de coalho

Abstract

The objective was to search for Enterococcus spp. resistant to antimicrobials and biofilm-forming in rennet cheese, packaged in the industry, sold in hypermarkets in the city of Recife, Pernambuco. The microbiological research technique employed was in accordance with the NP 2079 standards with minor changes. The growth of colonies characteristic of Enterococcus spp. on Slantz and Bartley agar in all acquired samples. From 36 isolates of Enterococcus spp. three bacterial species were identified, 44.4% of Enterococcus faecalis, 44.4% of Enterococcus faecium and 11.2% of Enterococcus durans. In the disk-diffusion method to check susceptibility to antimicrobials, a higher percentage of resistance was observed, including also the intermediate, in erythromycin (63.9%), followed by nitrofurantoin (36.2%), tetracycline (22.3% ), vancomycin (2.7%) and ciprofloxacin (2.7%). Regarding the biofilm-forming capacity of Enterococcus spp. Isolates, there was no strong biofilm-forming agent, but weak biofilm-forming agents were obtained in 77.8% and moderate biofilm-forming agents in 22.2%, in the total of the three species. found, and no isolate studied was negative in terms of the ability to form biofilm. The high contamination of this type of cheese analyzed suggests a possible failure in good practices, from milking to commercialization, where a product is ready for consumption, without disregarding the presence of Enterococcus spp. as an existing element in the manufacture of the same, being also relevant the biofilm-forming potential by this microorganism due to its formation causing phenotypic changes in planktonic cells, that can be described as microorganism survival strategies. Further microbiological studies on rennet cheese should be carried out due to its importance for the economy and public health.