Survival of cheese-ripening microorganisms in a dynamic simulator of the gastrointestinal tract.

A mixture of nine microorganisms (six bacteria and three yeasts) from the microflora of surface-ripened cheeses were subjected to in vitro digestive stress in a three-compartment "dynamic gastrointestinal digester" (DIDGI). We studied the microorganisms (i) grown separately in culture medium only (ii) grown separately in culture medium and then mixed, (iii) grown separately in culture medium and then included in a rennet gel and (iv) grown together in smear-ripened cheese. The yeasts Geotrichum candidum, Kluyveromyces lactis and Debaryomyces hansenii, were strongly resistant to the whole DIDGI process (with a drop in viable cell counts of less than <1 log CFU mL(-1)) and there were no significant differences between lab cultures and cheese-grown cultures.

In vitro characterization of the digestive stress response and immunomodulatory properties of microorganisms isolated from smear-ripened cheese.

Thirty-six microorganisms (twenty-one bacteria, twelve yeasts and three fungi) were isolated from surface-ripened cheeses and subjected to in vitro digestive stress. The approach mimicked gastric and/or duodenal digestion. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 and Saccharomyces boulardii were used as reference strains.