Bacterial resistance after pulsed electric fields depending on the treatment medium pH

The objective was to evaluate and compare the pulsed electric field (PEF) resistance of four Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, Lactobacillus plantarum, Staphylococcus aureus) and four Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella serotype Senftenberg 775W, Yersinia enterocolitica) bacterial strains under the same treatment conditions. Microbial characteristics such as cell size, shape or type of the cell envelopes did not exert the expected influence on microbial PEF resistance. The most PEF resistant bacteria depended on the treatment medium pH. For instance, L. monocytogenes, which showed the highest PEF resistance at pH 7.0, was one of the most sensitive at pH 4.0. The most PEF resistant strains at pH 4.0 were the Gram-negatives E. coli O157:H7 and S. Senftenberg. A subsequent holding of PEF-treated cells in pH 4.0 for 2 h increased the degree of inactivation up to 4 extra Log₁₀ cycles depending on the bacterial strain investigated. Under these treatment conditions, the most PEF resistant bacterial strains were still the pathogens S. Senftenberg and E. coli O157:H7.

Industrial relevance

The design of appropriate food preservation processes by PEF requires the selection of an adequate target bacterial strain, which should correspond to the most PEF resistant microorganism contaminating food. This study indicates that the pH of the treatment medium plays an important role in determining this target bacterial strain. On the other hand, the combination of PEF and subsequent holding under acidic conditions has been proven to be an effective method in order to achieve a higher level of microbial inactivation.