Efficacy of high pressure processing in combination with chemical preservatives for the reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in apple juice and orange juice

Abstract

The effect of pressure on the log reduction of six strains of E. coli O157:H7 and five serovars of Salmonella enterica were investigated in tryptic soy broth, sterile distilled water and commercially sterile orange and apple juice. Samples were subjected to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) at 300 and 550 MPa for 2 minutes at 6°C, and then held for 24 hours at 4°C following treatment. E. coli O157:H7 strain E009 was the most pressure resistant, having a decrease of only 0.77 log10 CFU/ml directly after pressurization in TSB. S. Agona was the most pressure resistant Salmonella serovar tested with a decrease of 3.79 log¬10 CFU/ml in TSB at 550 MPa. The two most pressure resistant cultures were then used in a subsequent study using HHP in conjunction with antimicrobials (dimethyl dicarbonate [DMDC] at 62.5 and 125 ppm, hydrogen peroxide at 150 and 300 ppm, cinnamic acid, potassium salt at 125 and 250 ppm, potassium sorbate [KS] at 500 and 1000 ppm and sodium benzoate [NaB] at 500 and 1000). For both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, the most effective antimicrobial was DMDC having a 5.79 and 5.96 log10 CFU/ml decrease directly following pressurization, respectively. Other treatments that were significantly different from the samples treated with no antimicrobial were hydrogen peroxide, and NaB at 500 ppm for E. coli O157:H7 and a treatment of NaB at 1000 ppm for S. Agona. After 24 hours at 4°C, S. Agona samples with added antimicrobials had a close to or above 5-log10 CFU/ml reduction. DMDC should be further investigated as an antimicrobial agent that can work in conjunction with HHP.