16/Aug/2026, 03:12 AM
Tallinn, Harju, Eesti
Home lab room Culture on blue Roquefort cheese
Local shop
Original Instagram postPenicillium roqueforti
Roquefort mold
- Scientific identification
- Penicillium roqueforti Thom
- Family
- Aspergillaceae
- Class
- Eurotiomycetes
- Genus
- Penicillium
Names across languages
- English: Roquefort mold
- German: Roquefort-Schimmel
- Finnish: Roquefortinhome
- Estonian: Rokfori pintselhallik
- Russian: Пеницилл Рокфор
The scientific profile
From the latest record: 2026-08-16.
Body
Rapidly growing, dense, velvety to fasciculate mould; mycelium whitish but colonies become blue-green, grey-green to dark olive-green from abundant conidia, often with a paler margin and occasional clear exudate droplets
Description
Spore mass: Blue-green, grey-green to dark green
Description
Saprobic; domesticated strains are deliberately cultivated inside blue-veined cheeses such as Roquefort, Stilton and Danablu
Edibility
Edible when used as an intentionally selected food-grade culture in properly produced blue cheese
Fruit body
Microscopic filamentous mould forming visible colonies and characteristic blue-green veins or cavities throughout ripening cheese
Dimensions
Colony rapid-growing; laboratory colonies commonly reach ~4–7 cm across within about 1–2 weeks, depending strongly on strain and growth medium
Odour
Strong, mouldy and characteristic; during cheese ripening contributes to the distinctive pungent blue-cheese aroma
Taste
Characteristically sharp and piquant when present as a food-grade culture in ripened blue cheese
Microscopy
Conidiophore stipes rough-walled, ~100–200 µm; terminal penicilli predominantly terverticillate, sometimes quaterverticillate and rarely biverticillate; phialides flask-shaped; conidia spherical, smooth, dark green, ⌀ ~3–4.5 µm, in loose chains
Overview
Classic blue-cheese mould forming dense blue-green colonies deliberately cultivated to create the characteristic blue veins, aroma and flavour of Roquefort-type cheeses
1906). Bull. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau Animal Industry 82: 35.
Field encounters
Source hashtags
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