5. Ecosystem functionality

5.1 Ecosystem protection

The complex flora that settles on the surface of the cheese is adapted to the system of physical (water activity, temperature), chemical (iron deficiency, salt, presence of fatty acids) and biological (production of bacteriocins, for example) constraints exerted on the micro-organisms. Those that develop most rapidly are also those best adapted to these constraints. This explains the succession of lactic, fungal and ripening flora as the composition of the cheese matrix changes. If these adapted flora are inoculated and establish themselves rapidly, alteration flora, i.e. those that create defects but pose no risk to health, and pathogenic flora, which can cause illness, have a very low probability of establishing themselves. Various interacting mechanisms...