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Rafaela Vega
Lynn Gussman
K12 - Honors Biology
December 10
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2013

Microbes on Cheese Rinds

What are cheese rinds made of? Microbes are an extremely important element
of the food that humans consume daily. From cheese to bread to yogurt to koji,
microbes are essential in the production of major food groups. But, what is a
microbe? Its simplest definition would be: a microscopic organism. In food
production, microbes play important roles by impacting the health of plant and animal
agricultural systems, creating flavors as well as increasing or decreasing the shelf life
of foods, and affecting human consumption of food by altering the way we obtain
energy from the food we eat (Wolfe). The principal types of microbes that are
involved in food are bacteria and fungi, especially within cheese rinds, where they are
the most effective organisms to produce innovative flavors, novel textures and
structures, and inventive ways to preserve cheese.
Bacteria and fungi are the most common microbes found on cheese rinds
(Vega and Chu). Bacteria are prokaryotic unicellular organisms that have no nucleus.
Their cell wall is made of peptidoglycan, either gram-positive or gram-negative, have
a very simple life cycle, and various types of nutrition, which include heterotrophic,
autotrophic, saprotrophic, and biotrophic. Bacteria are divided in five major groups,
four of which are highly present in food systems. These groups are acidobacteria,
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which is present on soil but not on food, actinobacteria, bacteroidetes, firmicutes, and
proteobacteria (Wolfe).
On the other hand, fungi are eukaryotic. They can be multicellular
(filamentous fungi) or unicellular (yeasts). Fungis cell wall is made out of chitin and
their cell membrane contains ergosterol, which is a unique compound for this type of
organism. They are heterotrophic and their life cycles have many variations, though
most consist on the production of spores. Just as bacteria, fungi are classified in 5
major groups: chytridiomycota, glomeryomycota, zygomycota, ascomycota, and
basidiomycota, but differing from bacteria, all groups of fungi can be found on food
systems (Wolfe). On Camemberts cheese rind, various species and strains of bacteria
and fungi are detected.
What are cheese rinds? A cheese rind is a biofilm composed by numerous
microbes. These organisms arrive to cheese through various processes. As stated by
Wolfe, the migration of microbes to the source, in this case a cheese, can be
controlled or stochastic. Examples of controlled migration are starter cultures and
biocontrol agents. In diverse cases, the environment will not provide the expected
bacteria and fungi, therefore, by utilizing this process, cheese manufacturers are able
to manipulate which cultures grow within the rinds of their merchandise. On the other
hand, natural migration of microbes occurs during the aging of food products in caves
or other environments. In these cases, the environment provides the cheese with
bacteria and fungi. Because of the principal role that the environment plays in
uncontrolled migration, no exact composition of microbes can occur in two different
places. This occurrence creates exclusivity in locations that produce specific cheese
rinds, which are irreproducible. The problem with stochastic migration is the
possibility of the presence of pathogens. Because the migration is uncontrolled,
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there is the chance that pathogens arrive in conjunction with the rest of bacteria and
fungi. This is a challenge that cheese producers foresee and are able to control
through limiting nutrients or factors, which are elements that limit the growth of
certain organisms.
Cheese rinds have several purposes, beginning with preservation, endurance,
and structure. The elaboration of a consistent rind on naturally aged cheeses
guarantees durability and controlled aging when the cheeses leave the hands of its
producer (Wolfe). Also, rinds function as elements of aesthetics, marketing, and
flavor development. Certain microbes produce specific textures that construct visually
pleasant rinds, which are often praised and utilized as features for marketing. Finally,
bacteria and fungis byproducts create flavors and aromas that enhance cheese
(Barclay). Some rinds portray a certain taste to foot odor; the reason for this
perception is that the same type of fungi, though a different strand, that can be found
in feet, is also present in some cheeses, specially popular in France (Vega and Chu).
As advocated by Wolfe, the microbial community equation plays an essential
role in the creation of the microbial community of cheese rinds. This equation begins
with the migration to the environment, which was discussed earlier. Second, the
microbes ability to tolerate the new environment is judgmental. Many features
influence this step, because the microbial tolerance of environmental factors involves
the presence or absence of oxygen, the amount of moisture, temperature, pH, and
salinity. Within these features, the ability of the organisms to survive is tested; if the
bacteria and fungi cant endure these circumstances, they would simply die and allow
other microbes to grow on that setting. Later, the access to resources for growth
involves the organisms ability to acquire micro and macronutrients, as well as being
suitable for the growth factors and fight back the limiting nutrients. Likewise,
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microbial metabolism, anabolism and catabolism, are significant due to the nature of
cheese rinds. Valuable products, such as flavors and enzymes, are produced through
the degradation of complex molecules during catabolism, and fermentation is
protagonist to the production of cheese. Finally, the interactions between species in a
microbial community, in this case a cheese rind, define the nature of the remaining
microbes. There are two types of interactions: direct and indirect. Direct interactions
consist on providing a physical substrate for growth, sharing metabolic byproducts, or
producing inhibitory or stimulatory molecules. This influences the microbes of a rind,
as its name suggests, directly, while, on the other hand, indirect interactions entail
changing the abiotic environment of the respective rind.
Camembert cheese is an exemplary model of the microbial community of a
cheese rind (Lessard, Blanger, St-Gelais and Labrie). Fungi and bacteria coexist as a
bloomy rind on the surface of a soft paste. Vega and Chu noted that in a standard
example of Camembert cheese, there are four species of bacteria and three species of
fungi, which were mentioned and characterized in the list below.
Bacteria:
Pseudoalteromonas elyakovii
Marine bacteria
Psychrobacter alimentarius
Gamma-proteobacteria
Prefers high moisture
Brevibacterium linens
Lactic acid bacteria
Strain of corynebacteria (same specie but different
strain of bacteria that produces feet odor)
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Produces methanethiol
Microbacterium gubbeenense
Found of surface-ripened cheese
Fungi:
Galactomyces geotrichum
Ascomycota
Contributes to the development of flavors through
release of fatty acids and peptides
Catabolizes lactic acid
Debaryomyces hansenii
Ascomycota
Prefers salty environments and low temperatures
Essential for fermentation
Penicillium camemberti:
Ascomycota
Protects against contaminants
Controlled migration to Camembert cheese
As advocated by Vega and Chu, Camembert cheeses rind preferably grows on
environments with high moisture and salt levels. These factors are influential to the
selection of which microbes colonize the soft Camembert paste.
Microbes are an essential element to the formation of cheese rinds. Bacteria
and fungi are the principal organisms that can be found on this product. Even if
scientists, nowadays, are able to define which microbes are present in which kind of
cheese rinds, the precise functions that each organism has in a rind havent been yet
discovered. Therefore, there is a vast amount of opportunities for the development of
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this research. Microbes play a protagonist role in the food that human beings consume
daily; who could have imagined these microscopic organisms ruled human nutrition?




Works Cited

Barclay, Eliza. What The Camembert Rind Does For The Cheese Inside. The Salt:
Whats On Your Plate. 05 Jan. 2012. NPR. 10 Dec. 2013 <
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/05/144734043/what-the-camembert-
rind-does-for-the-cheese-inside>

Lessard, Marie Hlne, Gatan Blanger, Daniel St-Gelais and Steve Labrie. The
Composition of Camembert Cheese-Ripening Cultures Modulates both
Mycelial Growth and Appearance. American Society for Microbiology. 13 Jan.
2012. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 10 Dec. 2013 <
http://aem.asm.org/content/78/6/1813.full>

Vega, Rafaela and Chu, Josephine. Camembert Presentation. 06 Aug. 2013. Prezi
presentation.

Wolfe, Benjamin E. Feast and Famine: The Microbiology of Food Course. Harvard
University. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 22 June 2013. Secondary
School Program Course Lecture.