Influence of prior pH and thermal stresses on thermal tolerance of foodborne pathogens.

Improper food processing is one of the major causes of foodborne illness. Accurate prediction of the thermal destruction rate of foodborne pathogens is therefore vital to ensure proper processing and food safety. When bacteria are subjected to pH and thermal stresses during growth, sublethal stresses can occur that may lead to differences in their subsequent tolerance to thermal treatment. As a preliminary study to test this concept, the current study evaluated the effect of prior pH and thermal stresses on thermal tolerance of Salmonella and Staphylococcus using a tryptic soy broth supplemented with yeast extract. Bacteria incubated at three pH values (6.0, 7.4, and 9.0) and four temperatures (15, 25, 35, and 45°C) for 24 hr were subjected to thermal treatments at 55, 60, and 65°C. At the end of each treatment time, bacterial suspensions were surface-plated on standard method agar for quantification of bacterial survival and further calculation of the thermal death decimal reduction time (D-value) and thermal destruction temperature (z-value). The effect of pH stress alone during the incubation on the thermal tolerance of both bacteria was generally insignificant. An increasing pattern of D-value was observed with the increment of thermal stress (incubation temperature). The bacteria incubated at 35°C required the highest z-value to reduce the 90% in D-values. Staphylococcus mostly displayed higher tolerance to thermal treatment than Salmonella. Although further research is needed to validate the current findings on food matrices, findings in this study clearly affirm that adaptation of bacteria to certain stresses may reduce the effectiveness of preservation procedures applied during later stage of food processing and storage.

Influence of growth temperature on thermal tolerance of leading foodborne pathogens.

Accurate prediction of the thermal destruction rate of foodborne pathogens is important for food processors to ensure proper food safety. When bacteria are subjected to thermal stress during storage, sublethal stresses and/or thermal acclimation may lead to differences in their subsequent tolerance to thermal treatment. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the thermal tolerance of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, and Staphylococcus aureus that are incubated during overnight growth in tryptic soy broth at four temperatures (15, 25, 35, and 45°C). Following incubation, the bacteria were subjected to thermal treatments at 55, 60, and 65°C. At the end of each treatment time, bacterial survival was quantified and further calculated for the thermal death decimal reduction time (D-value) and thermal destruction temperature (z-value) using a linear model for thermal treatment time (min) vs. microbial population (Log CFU/ml) and thermal treatment temperature (°C) vs. D-value, respectively, for each bacterium. Among the four bacterial species, E. coli generally had longer D-values and lower z-values than did other bacteria. Increasing patterns of D- and z-values in Listeria were obtained with the increment of incubation temperatures from 15 to 45°C. The z-values of Staphylococcus (6.19°C), Salmonella (6.73°C), Listeria (7.10°C), and Listeria (7.26°C) were the highest at 15, 25, 35, and 45°C, respectively. Although further research is needed to validate the findings on food matrix, findings in this study clearly affirm that adaptation of bacteria to certain stresses may reduce the effectiveness of preservation hurdles applied during later stages of food processing and storage.