Investigation of the Sanitary State of Air and Refrigeration Equipment of Meat Processing Enterprises in Kazakhstan Using the Method of Metagenomic Analysis

Taking into account the appearance of "new pathogens", persistent and uncultivated microorganisms, increasing the resistance of modern strains of microorganisms to disinfectants, increasing their antibiotic resistance and ability to biofilm formation, there is a need to study the microbial community of refrigerating chambers at meat processing enterprises in modern conditions, which was the aim of this work. The study of sanitary condition of the refrigeration equipment of a meat processing plants of the Almaty region of Kazakhstan was carried out by classical methods of microbiology and metagenomic analysis. Methods of classical microbiology allowed to identify the following microflora of refrigerating chambers of meat processing enterprises: bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus mesentericus, Pseudomonas sp., Sarcina flava, yeast Rhodotorula sp., mycelial fungi Penicillium sp., Alternaria sp., Mucor sp., Aspergillus sp., Chrososporum sp., Tamnidium sp. Metagenomic analysis showed that the bacterial microflora of refrigerating chambers is mainly represented by three phyla: Firmicutes (95.33%-97.94%), Proteobacteria (1.39%-1.02%), Actinobacteria (1.11%-0.63%) and their ratio depends on the temperature of the refrigerators well as on the observance of hygiene standards by personnel. The research results can serve as the basis for recommendations for improving the sanitary condition and safety at meat processing plants.