Screening of Agricultural Raw Materials and Long-Term Storage Products to Identify Bacillary Contaminants

Abstract

A complex of studies aimed at identifying and characterizing the main types of microbiota, which present in agricultural raw materials, was performed to assess the presence of potential pathogens for foodborne diseases, pests of raw materials, and products of their processing. Screening of microorganisms of plant raw materials showed that among the various groups of microorganisms, most of the epiphytic microbiota is represented by a spore-bearing microflora. Identification of bacillary microorganisms with classical microbiological methods allowed them to be attributed to nine morphotypes which were also confirmed by chemotaxonomic diagnostics and the MIDI Sherlock method. The percentage of contaminated samples of plant raw materials and semi-finished products is established, which allows to identify the contamination pathways, take preventive measures to avoid the release of potentially contaminated products, and also ensure the safety of the processed products of industrially grown agricultural raw materials.