Influence of Processing Parameters and Natural Antimicrobial on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris and Clostridium pasteurianum Using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

The food industry must ensure the stability of the products, and this is often achieved by exposing foods to heat treatments that are able to ensure the absence of pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms. These treatments are different in terms of temperature and duration and could lead to a loss in nutritional and sensory value. Moreover, some types of microorganisms manage to survive these treatments thanks to the sporification process. The addition of antimicrobials can become necessary, but at present, consumers are more inclined toward natural products, avoiding synthetic and chemical additives. Antimicrobials from plants could be a valuable option and, in this context, a patent concerning an antimicrobial extract from fermented plant substrate was recently tested against foodborne pathogens revealing high antimicrobial activity. The objective of this study was the creation of a model for the evaluation and subsequent prediction of the combined effect of different process and product variables, including antimicrobial addition, on the inhibition and reduction of spore germination of target microorganisms, Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris and Clostridium pasteurianum, responsible for spoilage of tomato-based products.

Criteria and methodologies for determining the causes of swelling of canned tomatoes in tinplate containers

“…In tomato preserves (4.2 ≤ pH ≤ 4.6), microorganisms with little resistance to heat may develop such as lactic acid bacteria, enterobacteria, yeasts and molds and some species of spore‐forming bacteria such as “butyric clostridia” ( C. pasteurianum , C. butyricum , C. acetobutylicum , etc. ), Bacillus coagulans and, more rarely, Paenibacillus macerans , Paenibacillus polymyxa , Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius (Hadj Saadoun et al., 2022; Pirone & La Pietra, 2003), and Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum . The latter organism is highly feared, as its development in non‐concentrated tomato derivatives, with swelling of the packages, is almost always due to insufficient acidification of the product (Pirone et al., 2005).…”

“…Other common agents are yeasts and molds, generally thermolabile microorganisms, except for some species of molds (such as those ascribed to the genus Byssochlamys ) and characterized by a significant heat resistance. Finally, butyric clostridia (type species Clostridium pasterianum ) belong to the group of spore‐forming, all heat‐resistant, notoriously non‐pathogenic, mesophilic anaerobes, and capable, in the spore form, of germinating and growing at pH ≥ 4.2 in tomato juice and, in the vegetative form of developing also at pH 3.8–4.0 (Bocchi & Previdi, 2004; Jakobsen & Jensen, 1975; Hadj Saadoun et al., 2022). Thermophiles (type species Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum ) are capable of germinating and growing in tomato juice at pH 4.2–4.5 and at temperatures between 50 and 55°C (Buchanan & Gibbons, 1974; Previdi & Riccardi, 2001) with appreciable levels of hydrogen and carbon dioxide.…”

Antibacterial Activity and Transcriptomic Analysis of Hesperetin against Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris Vegetative Cells

“…Due to this problem, A. acidoterrestris has attracted more and more attention from juice producers. In recent years, non-thermal techniques have been used to control and inactivate A. acidoterrestris vegetative cells and spores, such as UV sterilization [4], ultrasonic treatment [5], ohmic heating [6], cold plasma [7], and natural compounds [8]. As one of the natural compounds, flavonoids are heterocyclic organic compounds that have been proven to have antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory biological activities, which are widely found in fruits and vegetables [9].…”