The effect of non-thermal processing technologies on microbial inactivation: An investigation into sub-lethal injury of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens

R. M. Halpin, L. Duffy, O. Cregenzán-Alberti, J. G. Lyng, F. Noci

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in food processing technologies that could lessen the thermal impact on food products. In the present study, thermosonication (TS) and pulsed electric fields (PEF), applied individually or in combination (TS/PEF), were investigated to determine their effects on inactivation and sub-lethal injury of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Escherichia coli. TS was applied at a low (L) and high (H) wave amplitude (18.6μm and 27.9μm, respectively), while PEF was applied at a low and high electrical field strength (29kVcm-1 and 32kVcm-1, respectively). In addition, the inhibitory effects of TS/PEF combined were assessed. For P.fluorescens, when applied individually, TS and PEF resulted in ≤9% and ≤47% inactivation, respectively, with 8% sub-lethal injury following PEF treatment. However, TS/PEF treatment caused ≤48% inactivation and ≤34% sub-lethal injury, respectively. For E.coli, TS caused ≤6% inactivation, and ≤2% sub-lethal injury, while PEF treatment alone caused inactivation and sub-lethal injury of 86% and 29%, respectively. TS/PEF caused a maximum of 66% inactivation, while sub-lethally injuring approximately 26% of the of E.coli population. The present study confirms the ability of TS and PEF to inactivate microorganisms, but shows that some bacteria were not killed, but sub-lethally injured.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)106-115
Number of pages10
JournalFood Control
Volume41
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2014

Keywords

  • Escherichia coli
  • PEF
  • Pseudomonas fluorescens
  • Sub-lethal injury
  • Thermosonication

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