Microorganisms of Grape Berries

Grape surface is an unstable habitat that changes greatly according to the stage of grape ripening. Different bacteria and yeasts can colonise the surface of grape berry and the diversity of microorganisms depends on the stage of ripening, pesticide application and health condition. The aim of this study was to study the microflora of the surface of grape berries. Altogether, 19 grape samples from Slovakia were collected. The spread plate method was applied and a 100 μL inoculum of each dilution (10⁻², 10⁻³) was plated on TSA, MEA, and MRS agar for isolation of microorganisms from grapes. Proteins were extracted from cells by ethanol/formic acid extraction procedure. MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry was used for identification of microorganisms. In total, 11 genera of Gram-negative bacteria, 11 of Gram-positive bacteria and nine of yeasts were identified. Among 200 isolates, Gram-negative, Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts represented 11%, 27% and 62% of the total number of isolates studied. The most common genera of isolated yeasts were Hanseniaspora (37%), Metschnikowia (31%), and Rhodotorula (10%). The most frequently isolated among Gram-negative bacteria were Acinetobacter (22%), Pseudomonas (22%) and Sphingomonas (13%). The most common genera of Gram-positive bacteria were Bacillus (20%), Lactobacillus (19%), Leuconostoc and Staphylococcus (11%), respectively.