Comparison of Sublethal Injury Induced in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium by Heat and by Different Nonthermal Treatments

2003 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELKE Y. WUYTACK ◽  
L. DUONG THI PHUONG ◽  
A. AERTSEN ◽  
K. M. F. REYNS ◽  
D. MARQUENIE ◽  
...  

We have studied sublethal injury in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium caused by mild heat and by different emerging nonthermal food preservation treatments, i.e., high-pressure homogenization, high hydrostatic pressure, pulsed white light, and pulsed electric field. Sublethal injury was determined by plating on different selective media, i.e., tryptic soy agar (TSA) plus 3% NaCl, TSA adjusted to pH 5.5, and violet red bile glucose agar. For each inactivation technique, at least five treatments using different doses were applied in order to cover an inactivation range of 0 to 5 log units. For all of the treatments performed with a technique, the logarithm of the viability reductions measured on each of the selective plating media was plotted against the logarithm of the viability reduction on TSA as a nonselective medium, and these points were fitted by a straight line. Sublethal injury between different techniques was then compared by the slope and the y intercept of these regression lines. The highest levels of sublethal injury were observed for the heat and high hydrostatic pressure treatments. Sublethal injury after those treatments was observed on all selective plating media. For the heat treatment, but not for the high-pressure treatment, sublethal injury occurred at low doses, which were not yet lethal. The other nonthermal techniques resulted in sublethal injury on only some of the selective plating media, and the levels of injury were much lower. The different manifestations of sublethal injury were attributed to different inactivation mechanisms by each of the techniques, and a mechanistic model is proposed to explain these differences.

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 4173-4179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina García-Graells ◽  
Caroline Valckx ◽  
Chris W. Michiels

ABSTRACT We have studied inactivation of four strains each ofEscherichia coli and Listeria innocua in milk by the combined use of high hydrostatic pressure and the lactoperoxidase-thiocyanate-hydrogen peroxide system as a potential mild food preservation method. The lactoperoxidase system alone exerted a bacteriostatic effect on both species for at least 24 h at room temperature, but none of the strains was inactivated. Upon high-pressure treatment in the presence of the lactoperoxidase system, different results were obtained for E. coli and L. innocua. For none of the E. coli strains did the lactoperoxidase system increase the inactivation compared to a treatment with high pressure alone. However, a strong synergistic interaction of both treatments was observed for L. innocua. Inactivation exceeding 7 decades was achieved for all strains with a mild treatment (400 MPa, 15 min, 20°C), which in the absence of the lactoperoxidase system caused only 2 to 5 decades of inactivation depending on the strain. Milk as a substrate was found to have a considerable effect protecting E. coli and L. innocua against pressure inactivation and reducing the effectiveness of the lactoperoxidase system under pressure on L. innocua. Time course experiments showed that L. innocua counts continued to decrease in the first hours after pressure treatment in the presence of the lactoperoxidase system.E. coli counts remained constant for at least 24 h, except after treatment at the highest pressure level (600 MPa, 15 min, 20°C), in which case, in the presence of the lactoperoxidase system, a transient decrease was observed, indicating sublethal injury rather than true inactivation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
TANYA D'SOUZA ◽  
MUKUND KARWE ◽  
DONALD W. SCHAFFNER

The ability of Salmonella enterica serovars to survive in high fat content, low water activity foods like peanut butter has been demonstrated by large foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years. This study investigates the potential of high hydrostatic pressure processing, including pressure cycling, to inactivate Salmonella inoculated into creamy peanut butter. A cocktail of pathogenic strains of Salmonella Enteritidis PT30, Salmonella Tennessee, Salmonella Oranienburg, Salmonella Anatum, Salmonella Enteritidis PT 9c, and Salmonella Montevideo obtained from peanut butter– and nut-related outbreaks was inoculated (106 to 107 CFU/g) into creamy peanut butter and high pressure processed under five different sets of conditions, which varied from 400 to 600 MPa and from 4 to 18 min. The log CFU reductions achieved varied from 1.6 to 1.9. Control experiments in which Salmonella was inoculated (109 CFU/g) into 0.1% peptone buffer and high pressure processed at 600 MPa for 18 min showed inactivation to below the detection limit of 100 CFU/g, confirming that high pressure processing is effective at destroying Salmonella in high-moisture environments. Pressure cycling under three sets of conditions consisting of pressures from 400 to 600 MPa, 3 to 10 pressure cycles, and hold times of 6 min for each cycle showed reductions similar to those seen in noncycling experiments. The results of our experiments suggest that the peanut butter food matrix facilitates the survival of Salmonella when exposed to high hydrostatic pressure processing.


2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 2240-2247 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ritz ◽  
J. L. Tholozan ◽  
M. Federighi ◽  
M. F. Pilet

ABSTRACT High hydrostatic pressure is a new food preservation technology known for its capacity to inactivate spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. That inactivation is usually assessed by the number of colonies growing on solid media after treatment. Under normal conditions the method does not permit recovery of damaged cells and may underestimate the number of cells that will remain viable and grow after a few days in high-pressure-processed foodstuffs. This study investigated the damage inflicted on Listeria monocytogenescells treated by high pressure for 10 min at 400 MPa in pH 5.6 citrate buffer. Under these conditions, no cell growth occurred after 48 h on plate count agar. Scanning electron microscopy, light scattering by flow cytometry, and cell volume measurements were compared to evaluate the morphological changes in cells after pressurization. All these methods revealed that cellular morphology was not really affected. Esterase activity, as assessed either by enzymatic activity assays or by carboxy fluorescein diacetate fluorescence monitored by flow cytometry, was dramatically lowered, but not totally obliterated, under the effects of treatment. The measurement of propidium iodide uptake followed by flow cytometry demonstrated that membrane integrity was preserved in a small part of the population, although the membrane potential measured by analytical methods or evaluated by oxonol uptake was reduced from −86 to −5 mV. These results showed that such combined methods as fluorescent dyes monitored by flow cytometry and physiological activity measurements provide valuable indications of cellular viability.


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