Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part G (2025)

Biofilms which are aggregates of bacteria protected by layers of protective polysaccharide or polymers represent a challenge of great concern for the dairy sector. Detachment of bacteria from these biofilms leads to contamination and complications such as increased corrosion, reduced heat transfer efficiency, and microbiological hazards, all of which can translate into significant financial losses for dairy producers. Contamination of the processed products can harm the quality of the product and pose serious hazards to the consumers.

The reported study assessed the biofilm formation ability, motility of four bacterial cultures namely, Aeromonas caviae DMV01, Moraxella osloensis DMV03, Carnobacterium maltaromaticum DMV05, and Carnobacterium maltaromaticum DMV06 isolated from market samples of pasteurized cow milk and the effectiveness of Cleaning-In-Place (CIP) processes in removal of biofilm through simulated studies. Only one culture, Aeromonas caviae DMV01 was found to be motile. This organism exhibited swarming motility too. Among the tested strains, only A. caviae DMV01 and one of the C. maltaromaticum strains, DMV05 were able to form biofilms with the former being more robust than the latter in biofilm formation. On assessing the effectiveness of CIP in removing the biofilm formed by A. caviae DMV01, 100% and 82.7% reduction in A. caviae count was observed on using CIP solutions at one per cent and 0.5% level, respectively. Observations of the current study underscore the strain specificity in biofilm formation potential of bacteria and highlight the essentiality of conducting industry/establishment wise studies to formulate and adopt tailored cleaning regimes targeting the biofilm forming microflora prevalent in that particular industry/establishment, rather than adopting a universal one.