Eighty samples of Damietta cheese and cooking butter (40 samples each) were subjected to mycological examination.
The total mould count/g. of Damietta cheese ranged between 100-1200 with a mean value of 537.50 + 55.20. while in cooking butter the total mould count ranged between 300-1400, with a mean value of 552.50 + 47.56. Moulds isolated from both Damietta cheese and cokking butter belonged to the following genera: Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Alternaria, Geotrichum, Mucor, Rhizopus, Absidia. Genus fusarium could be isolated only from Damietta cheese. Identification of isolated Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. reveald that A.niger, A. fumigatus, A. flavus, A. candidus and A. versicolor could be isolated from both Damietta cheese and cokking butter. While A. nidulans, and A.calvatus could be isolated from Damietta cheese, and A. terreus from cokking butter. Penicillium species isolated from both Damietta cheese and cokking butter were P.verrucosum var.cyclopium;P.ver.var.verru cosum P.chrysogenum, P.citrinum, and P.atramentosum,while P.griseofulvum,P.brevicompactum P.camemberti, P. funiculosum, P.roqueforti, P.lilacinum, P.caseicolum and P. sublateritium could be isolated only from Damietta cheese. Sugessted measures for improving the qua lity of the products are discussed.