Monitoring the prevalence of Pseudomonas fluorescens as a spoilage indicator in cow raw milk, teat surfaces, and milk tanks.

Background: Milk and its products are very sensitive to spoilage if they are kept under unsuitable conditions which may provide favorable circumstances for the growth of specific spoilage organisms, Pseudomonas fluorescens accounted as the most dominant indicator for milk spoilage.

Aim: This study highlights monitoring the prevalence of P. fluorescens as a spoilage indicator organism in cow raw milk and its contact surfaces represented by teat surfaces and milk tanks in Nineveh province.

Methods: A total of 150 samples from cows' raw milk, teat surfaces, and milk tank swabs were collected from different locations in Nineveh province from October 2023 till February 2024. The Pseudomonas fluorescens were detected by using conventional cultivation methods supported by molecular detection of the target pathogen using the polymerase chain reaction technique.

Results: Out of 150 samples, 48 (32%) were positive for the prevalence of P. fluorescens by traditional methods, and 39 (26%) were positive using PCR assay according to the 16SPflu gene yielded a band at 850 bp. The P. fluorescens was recovered at 19 (38%) from raw milk. Teat surfaces revealed a higher isolation rate 11 (22%) compared to milk tanks 9 (18%). The mean counts of Pseudomonas in cows raw milk revealed 4.38, 6.29, and 7.37 log CFU/ml for the 0, 3, and 6 days of storage at chilling temperature. Results of DNA sequencing of the 16SrRNA gene revealed 12 strains recorded in the GenBank nucleotide sequence database.

Conclusion: Our results shed light on the risk of P. fluorescens prevalence as a spoilage indicator in raw milk and surrounding surfaces which is inevitable to apply hygienic procedures during milk collecting, processing, and preservation to increase the shelf life of the products and ensure milk safety and consumer health.