| Abstract | The study was carried out to determine molds and yeast contamination level in Ras cheese samples collected from modern and traditional cheese factories in 5 locations in Damietta, Tanta, Kafr El-Sheikh and El-Mansoura cities. Eighty out of ninety two isolates of the examined Ras cheese samples (87%) contained molds, and 12 isolates (13%) contained yeast. The isolated mold strains were Penicillium camemberti, Penicillium roqueforti, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus niger, Mucor spp., Fusarium reseom, Cladosporium herbarum and Alternaria tenins however, the yeast strains were belong to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Geotrichum candidum .The most predominant molds in the samples were Penicillium (34.78%) and Aspergillus (32.61%). Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp. and Cladosporium herbarum were found to produce aflatoxins although Cladosporium and Aspergillus were more toxins producing than Penicillium spp. The isolated molds produced one or two of other mycotoxins (sterigmatocystin, penicillic acid, patulin, citrinin, zeralenone, trichothecene and ochratoxin). It was found that Penicillium roqueforti produce sterigmatocystin in high concentration. These results therefore rise the importance of preventing molds growth on Ras cheese surface to avoid health hazards and economic loose. |