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Synergistic Action of Mild Heat and Essential Oil Treatments on Culturability and Viability of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 Tested In Vitro and in Fruit Juice

TitleSynergistic Action of Mild Heat and Essential Oil Treatments on Culturability and Viability of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 Tested In Vitro and in Fruit Juice
Publication TypeArticolo su Rivista peer-reviewed
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsDi Gregorio, Luciana, Tchuenchieu Alex, Poscente Valeria, Arioli Stefania, Del Fiore Antonella, Costanzo Manuela, Giorgi Debora, Lucretti Sergio, and Bevivino Annamaria
JournalFoods
Volume11
Start Page1615
Issue11
Pagination1615
Date Published30/05/2022
Abstract

he strengthening effect of a mild temperature treatment on the antimicrobial efficacy of essential oils has been widely reported, often leading to an underestimation or a misinterpretation of the product’s microbial status. In the present study, both a traditional culture-based method and Flow Cytometry (FCM) were applied to monitor the individual or combined effect of Origanum vulgareessential oil (OEO) and mild heat treatment on the culturability and viability of Escherichia coli in a conventional culture medium and in a fruit juice challenge test. The results obtained in the culture medium showed bacterial inactivation with an increasing treatment temperature (55 °C, 60 °C, 65 °C), highlighting an overestimation of the dead population using the culture-based method; in fact, when the FCM method was applied, the prevalence of injured bacterial cells in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state was observed. When commercial fruit juice with a pH of 3.8 and buffered at pH 7.0 was inoculated with E. coli ATCC 25922, a bactericidal action of OEO and a higher efficiency of the mild heat at 65 °C for 5′ combined with OEO were found. Overall, the combination of mild heat and OEO treatment represents a promising antimicrobial alternative to improve the safety of fruit juice.

URLhttps://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/11/1615https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/11/1615/pdf
DOI10.3390/foods11111615
Short TitleFoods
Citation Keydi2022synergistic