Análise microbiológica das etapas de produção de uma cervejaria artesanal de Palmeira - PR

Abstract

Adopting good handling practices within brewing companies ensures that the prepared food is of high quality. Any failure in any of these processes will result in a series of problems such as intoxication, food poisoning, or infection. It is important to analyze the stages of the production process, as well as their critical control points, in order to identify at which stages the products may be more susceptible to contamination, and thus increase the safety of consumers in this industry. Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate the microbiological contamination of products from different stages of production of an artisanal microbrewery in the municipality of Palmeira, PR. The present work was carried out in a microbrewery, located in the city of Palmeira, PR. Samples of the must, the fermented product, the matured beer and the final product already bottled were collected. Then they were taken to Microbiology laboratory at the Federal Technological University of Paraná, where they were processed in triplicate. The most probable number of total and thermotolerant coliforms was analyzed for all products collected, as well as the presence of Salmonella sp. in beer that is already bottled. The analyses were carried out following the methodology proposed by the Manual of Methods for Microbiological Analysis of Food and Water. The results were compared to the values recommended by the MAPA Ordinance, which establishes the identity and quality standards for brewery products. The tests were terminated at this stage as there was no evidence of microbial growth. It is noted that in none of the analyzed samples, the development of the microorganisms studied was observed. Regarding the microorganisms of the coliform group, there was no evidence of fermentation processes in any of the LST broth tubes of the triplicate, demonstrating the absence of these microorganisms in the samples. Based on the results obtained, it can be seen that the analyzed microbrewery presented products free from microbial contamination, with regard to the presence of total and thermotolerant coliforms and Salmonella sp., thus, in accordance with the standards established by the health legislation in force. In this way, it can be noted that the production processes do not present failures related to quality control, since in none of the stages there was a visualization of contamination.