The prevention and removal of biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from raw milk samples by citric acid treatments

In this study, the antibiofilm activity of citric acid treatment on Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from raw milk samples was evaluated. For this purpose, the prevention and removal of biofilm formation of S. aureus strains by citric acid treatments (2% and 10%) for 20 min were investigated for comparison with peracetic acid treatment (0.3%) on both microtitration plate and stainless steel coupons. The results indicated that the prevention and removal of biofilm formation and the numbers of prevented or removed S. aureus strains using citric acid treatments were observed to be higher than those using peracetic acid treatment on both surfaces. The prevention and removal of biofilm formation were substantially higher when the concentration of citric acid treatment increased from 2% to 10% and the stainless coupons were used. The results show that citric acid can be used as an alternative disinfectant in controlling biofilm formation in the dairy industry.