Prevalence of Candida Species in the Fresh Fruit Juices

Fruit juices are popular soft drinks with an important role in human nutrition. Fruit juices are often infested by yeast species that can survive different storage conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of yeast contamination of freshly squeezed juices in three large supermarkets in Zagreb, Croatia. The analysis included 84 juice samples obtained from freshly squeezed orange, lemon, grapefruit, and apples. Their acidity varied between pH 2.1 and pH 4.9. Juice samples were plated directly on Sabouraud 4 % glucose Agar (Merck, 1.05438) and processed according to standardised methods (HRN ISO 7954:2002). Yeasts were isolated in all 84 samples and ranged between 0.005x10 and 23x10 colony forming units per mL (CFU mL). The most common yeasts identifi ed using the API 20C AUX yeast kit included Candida guillermondii, C. krusei, C. famata, C. spherica, C. colliculosa, C. albicans, Trichosporon mucoides, Kloeckera spp. and yeast-like fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. C. guillermondii prevailed in 55.95 % of all samples.