Storing refrigerated raw milk in the source of production reduces economic losses which occur due to the acidifying activity of mesophilic bacteria. Nevertheless, this process selects psychrotrophic bacteria that cause technological and economic problems to the dairy industry. Samples of individual and collective refrigerated tanks and samples from an industrial silo in a dairy industry were collected and analyzed to evaluate the microbiological quality of raw milk. Furthermore, proteolytic psychrotrophic bacteria were isolated from refrigerated raw milk and characterized according to the Gram reaction and glucose fermentation. The refrigerated raw milk from the industrial silo was not compatible with legal microbiological standards, and its microbial count was significantly higher than milk from individual and collective tanks. A significant difference of contamination by mesophiles, proteolytic and non-proteolytic psychrotrophs, and Pseudomonas was observed in samples collected from refrigeration tanks compared to samples collected from the industrial silo. The Gram-negative microbiota was isolated more often, especially the glucose non-fermentative Gram-negative bacteria.
raw milk; psychrotrophic microbiota; microbial quality
