Recently, the Sarcocystis parasite in horse and deer meat has been
reported to be a causative agent of acute food poisoning, inducing nausea, vomiting and
diarrhea. Compared with other causative agents, such as bacteria, viruses and other
parasites, in deer meat, the Sarcocystis species parasite, including its
stability under various conditions, is poorly understood. In this study, we assessed the
viability of Sarcocystis spp. and the activity of their diarrhea toxin (a
15-kDa protein) in deer meat under conditions of freezing, cold storage, pH change and
curing. In addition, the heat tolerance was assayed using purified bradyzoites. The
results showed that the species lost viability by freezing at −20, −30 and −80°C for <1
hr, heating at 70°C for 1 min, alkaline treatment (pH 10.0) for 4 days and addition of
salt at 2.0% for <1 day. Immunoblot assays showed that the diarrhea toxin disappeared
together with the loss of viability. However, the parasite survived cooling at 0 and 4°C
and acidification (pH 3.0 and 5.0) for more than 7 days with the diarrhea toxin intact.
These results provide useful information for developing practical applications for the
prevention of food poisoning induced by diarrheal toxin of Sarcocystis
spp. in deer meat during cooking and preservation.
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