title: Temperature and water activity minima for growth of spoilage moulds from meat.
abstract: Five species of fungi were isolated from mould spoilage on meat other than black spot. 'White spot' colonies yielded Chrysosporium pannorum or an Acremonium sp.; 'whiskers' colonies yielded Thamnidium elegans or Mucor racemosus, and blue-green colonies yielded Penicillium corylophilum . Chrysosporium pannorum was moderately xerotolerant with a minimum growth temperature of -5 degrees C. The Acremonium sp. and P. corylophilum showed a similar level of xerotolerance but had a minimum growth temperature of -2 degrees C. Mucor racemosus was no more xerotolerant than many spoilage bacteria and did not grow below -1 degree C, but grew rapidly at 3 degrees C and above. Thamnidium elegans grew at -7 degrees C on supercooled medium and an intrinsic minimum growth temperature of -10 degrees C was indicated. However, the low xerotolerance of this species precluded growth on frozen media below -5 degrees C. It seems therefore that -5 degrees C is the practical limiting temperature for mould growth on meat, and mould spoilage usually indicates that surfaces of freezer stored meats have approached and possibly exceeded 0 degrees C.
mesh_terms: D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development*; D008460:Meat; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014867:Water