ABSTRACT
The effect of additives and post-treatment incubation conditions on the recovery of high pressure and heat-injured (i.e., processed at 620 MPa and 95 and 100 degrees C for 5 min) spores of Clostridium botulinum strains, 62-A (proteolytic type A) and 17-B (nonproteolytic type B) was studied. High pressure and heat-injured spores were inoculated into TPGY (Trypticase-Peptone-Glucose-Yeast extract) anaerobic broth media containing additives (lysozyme, L-alanine, L-aspartic acid, dipicolonic acid, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium lactate) at various concentrations (0-10 microg/ml) individually or in combination. The spore counts of high pressure and heat-injured 62-A and 17-B recovered from TPGY broth containing lysozyme (10 microg/ml) incubated for 4 months versus that recovered from peptone-yeast extract-glucose-starch (PYGS) plating agar containing lysozyme (10 microg/ml) incubated under anaerobic conditions for 5 days were also compared. None of the additives either individually or in combination in TPGY broth improved recovery of injured spore enumeration compared to processed controls without additives. Addition of lysozyme at concentrations of 5 and 10 microg/ml in TPGY broth improved initial recovery of injured spores of 17-B during the first 4 days of incubation but did not result in additional recovery at the end of the 4 month incubation compared to the processed control without lysozyme. Adding lysozyme at a concentration of 10 microg/ml to PYGS plating agar resulted in no effect on the recovery of high pressure and heat-injured 62-A and 17-B spores. The recovery counts of high pressure and heat-injured spores of 62-A and 17-B were lower (i.e., <1.0 log units) with PYGS plating agar compared to the MPN method using TPGY broth as the growth medium.
Subject(s)
Bacteriological Techniques , Culture Media/pharmacology , Food Additives/pharmacology , Spores, Bacterial/growth & development , Bacteriological Techniques/methods , Clostridium botulinum/chemistry , Clostridium botulinum/drug effects , Clostridium botulinum/growth & development , Hot Temperature , Microbial Viability/drug effects , Pressure , Spores, Bacterial/chemistry , Spores, Bacterial/drug effectsABSTRACT
The effects of high-pressure treatments at various temperature-time combinations on the inactivation of spores of Clostridium botulinum type A strains 62-A and BS-A in phosphate buffer (0.067 M, pH 7.0) and in a crabmeat blend were investigated. The log unit reduction of strain 62-A spores increased significantly as the processing pressure increased from 417 to 827 MPa (from 60,000 to 120,000 lb/in2) at 75 degrees C. The reduction of BS-A and 62-A spores in either medium increased as processing temperatures increased from 60 to 75 degrees C and processing times increased from 5 to 15 or 20 min at a maximum pressure of 827 MPa. Approximately 2- and 3-log reductions of BS-A and 62-A spores, respectively, in phosphate buffer were obtained at the maximum pressure-maximum temperature combination of 827 MPa and 75 degrees C for a processing time of 20 min. Processing for 15 min at the maximum pressure-maximum temperature combination resulted in maximum reductions of 3.2 and 2.7 log units for BS-A and 62-A spores, respectively, in the crabmeat blend. Results obtained in this study indicate that the crabmeat blend did not protect BS-A and 62-A spores against inactivation by high-pressure processing.
