Investigación sobre la presencia de Bacillus cereus en Yerba Mate elaborada

in this work, the presence of bacillus cereus in manufactured yerba mate was investigated. the natural habitat of this microorganism is the soil: it was isolated from different plant species, but above all, from boiled rice. bacillus cereus produces toxins of two kinds preformed in food, one thermo-resistant or emetic and another thermolabile or diarrheogenic. thirty two samples of manufactured yerba mate of different trademarks were analyzed, out of which 18 presented positive results, 6 of which were confirmed by means of biochemical tests. the bacteria isolated were delivered to the instituto inei-anlis dr. carlos malbrán for their typification and eventual confirmation. the presence of bacillus cereus in food constitutes a serious risk, above all due to its capacity to produce thermoresistant toxins. in the literature, reference to its isolation in dried vegetables was found, a reason for which its presence in yerba mate is feasible.