Revisão: produção de cerveja: microrganismos deteriorantes e métodos de detecção

Beer is a beverage that presents unfavourable features for the growth of several microorganisms, being recognized as a product of considerable microbiological stability. However, some species of microorganisms, including Gram-positive (Lactobacillus and Pediococcus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Pectinatus and Megasphaera) and wild yeasts (Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces) are able to grow in this beverage, providing undesirable characteristics, such as turbidity and sensory changes, which damage the quality of the final product. This fact has motivated a number of research projects aiming at the development of fast and specific methods for the detection of beer spoilage microorganisms. Although the detection of these microorganisms by cultivation in laboratory media does not always provide the required specificity and sensibility, the use of different selective media and incubation conditions still represent the method preferred by breweries. The present article is a literature review about the main beer spoilage microorganisms, including the causes that favour their growth and the methods that can be used for their detection.