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Pulsed electric fields cause sublethal injury in Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
García D.,
Gómez N.,
Condón S.,
Raso J.,
Pagán R.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1046/j.1472-765x.2003.01282.x
Subject(s) - escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , enterobacteriaceae , bacteria , genetics , gene
Aims: The objective was to investigate the occurrence of sublethal injury in Escherichia coli by pulsed electric fields (PEF) at different pH values. Methods and Results: The occurrence of sublethal injury in PEF‐treated E. coli cells depended on the pH of the treatment medium. Whereas a slight sublethal injury was detected at pH 7, 99·95% of survivors were injured when cells were treated at pH 4 for 400 μ s at 19 kV. The PEF‐injured cells were progressively inactivated by a subsequent holding at pH 4. Conclusions: PEF cause sublethal injury in E. coli . The measurement of sublethal injury using a selective medium plating technique allowed prediction of the number of cells that would be inactivated by subsequent storage in acidic conditions. Significance and Impact of the Study: This work could be useful for improving food preservation by PEF technology and contributes to the knowledge of the mechanism of microbial inactivation by PEF.