The Influence of High Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide on the Germination of Bacterial Spores

Abstract

The influence of carbon dioxide at 1–55 atm on the germination of Clostridium sporogenes, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in a complex medium was studied. The germination studies at atmospheric pressure were done in the pH range 5.2–6.7. Controls at the same pH were done in 100% nitrogen. Carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure (1 atm) inhibited the spore germination of B. cereus spores but strongly enhanced the germination rate of those of the clostridia. Spore germination of Cl. sporogenes and Cl. perfringens was inhibited completely at 10 atm and at 25 atm, respectively. The germination rate in carbon dioxide or nitrogen was generally higher at pH 6.7 than at 5.2–6.0.

Sterilization of Microorganisms with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

“…However, deterioration in the quality of the products is still inevitable by the superheated steam treatment. The inhibitory effect of COz on the growth of some food-related bacteria has been studied,1Z) and a modified atmosphere enriched with COz is often commercially used to control microbial spoilage in fresh meatY) Enfors and Molin 14 ) have reported that at atmospheric pressure, 100% CO 2 inhibited the germination of spores of Bacillus cereus, and that the same conditions stimulated the germination of spores of Clostridium sporogenes and Clostridium perfringens. There are few reports 15 ) on the effect of high pressures of CO 2 , except for toxin production with Clostridium botulinum.…”

Analysis of Microbial Activity Under a Supercritical CO{sub 2} Atmosphere

“…99% germinated while 1% remained dormant), while 49% of spores in the CO 2 incubated culture germinated -which may reflect an over-estimation of the germination rate under CO 2 due to the brief intrusion of oxidative potential described earlier. This decreased rate of germination is characteristic of Bacillus cereus, which has previously been documented to have a germination rate of 10-30% under CO 2 (Enfors and Molin, 1978). In both anaerobic experiments the sporulation stage evidenced by an increase in spore density in aerobic cultures around day 4 was not observed over the 16 to 17 day experiment.…”

The Extension of the Shelf Life of Ready-to-Serve Pizza by a Combination of Modified Atmosphere Packaging and Refrigeration

“…Analysis of variance revealed highly significant (P<0.01) differences among the atmospheres studied for baked pizza samples. Generally, FFA and peroxide values of air packed samples were significantly higher (P<0.01) than those of modified atmosphere packed be the effect of CO 2 by alteration of permeability of cell of membrane and enzymatic reaction pathways (Enfors et al, 1978;Kamel andManji, 1986, Rosenthal et al, 1991) and also may be due to the inherent sensitivity of gram-negative bacteria to extrinsic factors such as a w , pH, etc. (Holzapfel, 1998) (results not shown).…”