Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF FOOD MEASUREMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
This study aimed to characterize the yeast flora of traditional Kars Gravyer cheese produced in T & uuml;rkiye using molecular methods, alongside evaluating its physicochemical and microbiological quality attributes. Thirty cheese samples were col-lected from retail points. DNA was isolated from 150 yeast colonies (5 per sample). Species identification was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the ITS1-5.8 S-ITS2 region and 26 S rDNA sequencing. Additionally, pH, dry matter, color parameters, and microbial counts were analyzed. Biotechnological analyses revealed that Debaryomyces hansenii was present in 20 cheese samples (66.7%), Cryptococcus laurentii in 8 cheese samples (26.7%), and both yeasts concurrently in two cheese samples (6.6%). In Gravyer cheeses, where the mean pH and dry matter values were determined as 5.96 +/- 0.17 and 67.25 +/- 2.12%, respectively, the count of lactic acid bacteria (7.45 +/- 0.42 log CFU/g) was higher than the count of Micrococcus/Staphylococcus (5.65 +/- 0.97 log CFU/g). The mean yeast-mould count was 4.48 +/- 1.16 log CFU/g, with yeasts being more predominant than moulds in the samples, and no mould growth was observed in three samples. The Enterobacteriaceae count was found to be below 2.00 log CFU/g in 20 samples, whereas the average in 10 samples was 3.33 +/- 1.13 log CFU/g. The inner and rind surfaces of the Gravyer cheese have different color values (P < 0.01), and the L* and b* values of the inner surface were higher than those of the rind surface (P < 0.05). As a result of the current study, Debaryomyces hansenii was identified as the predominant yeast species in the traditional Gravyer cheese