Candida krusei facts for kids

Candida krusei is a tiny fungus, also known as a yeast. It plays an important role in making chocolate!

However, Candida krusei can also cause infections, especially in people who are already sick or have weak immune systems. It is naturally tough against a common medicine called fluconazole. This means doctors need to use different medicines to treat it. Infections from C. krusei can be more serious than those from other common yeasts, like C. albicans. Other similar types of Candida yeasts include C. parapsilosis, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. guillermondii, and C. rugosa.

Making Chocolate Sweeter

Cacao beans, which are used to make chocolate, need to be fermented. This process helps remove their bitter taste and breaks them down. C. krusei works with another fungus called Geotrichum to do this.

Usually, these fungi are already on the seed pods and seeds of the cacao plant. But for modern chocolate making, special types (called strains) are used. Each chocolate company picks its own special strains. They do this to make their chocolate taste and smell the best.

The yeasts grow very quickly, making thousands of tiny cells. These cells produce special chemicals called enzymes. The enzymes break down the pulp around the cacao beans. This process creates acetic acid. The acid helps develop the chocolatey smell and gets rid of the bitterness in the beans.

How it Grows and What it Does

C. krusei can grow in warm places, up to about 43–45 °C (109–113 °F). Most other important Candida yeasts need special vitamins to grow. But C. krusei is unique because it can grow even without vitamins in its food.

When C. krusei grows in a lab, it looks different from other Candida yeasts. It forms flat, rough, whitish-yellow colonies, not round bumps. Under a microscope, it looks like long grains of rice. These features help scientists identify it easily.

When C. krusei grows, it can make different kinds of acids. For example, it can produce acetate, pyruvate, and lactate. Scientists are still studying what these acids do and if they have any special roles.

Candida krusei is a very serious type of fungus. Patients who get this infection often have a harder time recovering compared to those with other Candida infections.

Treating Candida krusei

Doctors can successfully treat Candida krusei infections. They use medicines like voriconazole, amphotericin B, and a group of medicines called echinocandins. These echinocandins include micafungin, caspofungin, and anidulafungin.

See also

In Spanish: Candida krusei para niños