Determination of fungal contaminants in refrigerated milk from AL.

Milk production has been increasing in the state of Alagoas as well as in Brazil but its quality is still a problem. The low quality of refrigerated raw milk reduces the shelf life of pasteurized milk. Increasing the shelf life of pasteurized milk is directly related to reducing the count of spoilage microorganisms in refrigerated raw milk. Not much data is available in Brazil on the contaminating fungal microbiota present in milk making it difficult to control. The aim was to characterize the fungal microbiota of refrigerated raw milk from expansion tanks in the state of Alagoas Brazil.