Tomás López-Pedemonte

Fat content increases the lethality of ultra-high-pressure homogenization on Listeria monocytogenes in milk.

Listeria monocytogenes CCUG 15526 was inoculated at a concentration of approximately 7.0 log(10) cfu/mL in milk samples with 0.3, 3.6, 10, and 15% fat contents. Milk samples with 0.3 and 3.6% fat content were also inoculated with a lower load of approximately 3.0 log(10) cfu/mL. Inoculated milk samples were subjected to a single cycle of ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH) treatment at 200, 300, and 400 MPa. Microbiological analyses were performed 2 h after the UHPH treatments and after 5, 8, and 15 d of storage at 4 degrees C. Maximum lethality values were observed in samples treated at 400 MPa with 15 and 10% fat (7.95 and 7.46 log(10) cfu/mL), respectively. However, in skimmed and 3.6% fat milk samples, complete inactivation was not achieved and, during the subsequent 15 d of storage at 4 degrees C, L. monocytogenes was able to recover and replicate until achieving initial counts. In milk samples with 10 and 15% fat, L. monocytogenes recovered to the level of initial counts only in the milk samples treated at 200 MPa but not in the milk samples treated at 300 and 400 MPa. When the load of L. monocytogenes was approximately 3.0 log(10) cfu/mL in milk samples with 0.3 and 3.6% fat, complete inactivation was not achieved and L. monocytogenes was able to recover and grow during the subsequent cold storage. Fat content increased the maximum temperature reached during UHPH treatment; this could have contributed to the lethal effect achieved, but the amount of fat of the milk had a stronger effect than the temperature on obtaining a higher death rate of L. monocytogenes.

Behavior of Yersinia enterocolitica strains inoculated in model cheese treated with high hydrostatic pressure.

The effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment and the ability for survival, repair, and growth of three human pathogenic serotypes (O:1, O:3, O:8) of Yersinia enterocolitica were investigated in washed-curd model cheese made with pasteurized bovine milk. Samples were treated at 300, 400, and 500 MPa for 10 min at 20 degrees C and analyzed at 0, 1, 7, and 15 days to assess the viability of the Yersinia population. A long-term study (up to 60 days of ripening after high hydrostatic pressure treatment) was also undertaken. Treatments at 400 and 500 MPa caused maximum lethality, and only the treatment at 300 MPa showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between serotypes; the most baroresistant was O:3. Ability to repair and grow was not observed after 15 days of storage at 8 degrees C. Yersinia counts in untreated cheese samples also decreased below the detection limit at day 45 in the long-term study. These results suggest that the cheese environment did not allow recovery of injured cells or growth. A primary contributing factor to this effect seemed to be the low pH resulting from the production of lactic acid during cheese ripening.

Inactivation of Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg 775W in liquid whole egg by ultrahigh pressure homogenization.

Two batches of samples of liquid whole egg were inoculated with a load of approximately 3 and 7 log CFU/ml, respectively, of Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg 775W and submitted to different ultrahigh pressure homogenization (UHPH) treatments at 150, 200, and 250 MPa. The inlet temperature of the samples was 6 degrees C. Counts of viable and injured Salmonella cells were obtained 2 h after the UHPH treatments and after 5, 10, 15, and 20 days of storage at 4 degrees C. The level of pressure applied influenced the lethality attained significantly (P < 0.05). In the samples with an initial load of approximately 7 log CFU/ml, the highest lethality value of 3.2 log CFU/ml was obtained at 250 MPa, and it is similar to those values reported in other surveys for thermal pasteurization with this same Salmonella strain. When the initial load was approximately 3 log CFU/ml, total inactivation was apparently obtained after the 250-MPa treatment (2.7 log CFU/ml). After 10 days of storage at 4 degrees C, Salmonella counts decreased in UHPH-treated samples, and colonies were not observed in tryptone soy agar and yeast extract medium. Nevertheless, presence of viable Salmonella cells was detected with the VIDAS Salmonella immunoassay method during the entire storage period. These results encourage further investigation of UHPH processing of liquid whole egg, assaying the possibility of using higher pressures and fluid inlet temperatures.

Inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Cow's Milk by Means of High Hydrostatic Pressure at Mild Temperatures

ABSTRACT Two strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (3644/02 and ATCC 19698) were inoculated (approximately 6 log CFU/ml) into sterilized milk to evaluate inactivation by high hydrostatic pressure. Reductions of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis increased with pressure level. Significant differences were also found between M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis strains and between the media used. Average reductions of 4 log CFU/ml after treatment with 500 MPa are comparable to those caused by thermal treatments.

Fate of Escherichia coli strains inoculated in model cheese elaborated with or without starter and treated by high hydrostatic pressure.

The aim of this research was to study high hydrostatic pressure inactivation of two strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli O59:H21 [CECT 405] and E. coli O157:H7 [CECT 5947]) inoculated in washed-curd model cheese elaborated with and without starter and the ability of these strains for survival, recovery, and growth. Samples were treated at 300, 400, and 500 MPa for 10 min at 20 degrees C and analyzed after the treatment and after 1, 7, and 15 days of storage at 8 degrees C to study the behavior of Escherichia populations. Cheeses elaborated with starter showed the maximum lethality at 400 and 500 MPa, and no significant differences in the baroresistant behavior of either strains were detected, except for E. coli O157:H7 at 400 MPa in cell counts obtained with thin agar layer method medium, where the decrease value was significantly lower. In cheese elaborated without starter, the highest decrease value was observed at 500 MPa, except for E. coli O59:H21 in cell counts obtained with selective culture medium, where the highest decrease value was also found at 400 MPa. The ability to repair and grow was not observed in model cheese elaborated with starter, as cell counts of treated samples decreased after 15 days of storage at 8 degrees C. By contrast, in cheese elaborated without starter, all pressurized samples showed the trend to repair and grow during the storage period in both strains. These results suggest that the presence of starter and low pH values are the main factors that control the ability of Escherichia strains inoculated in this type of cheese and treated by high hydrostatic pressure to recover and grow.