title: Modelling the growth, survival and death of Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: In this paper, the predictive microbiology approach has been generalized to the study of growth, survival and death of Listeria monocytogenes. As this micro-organism is involved in food poisoning, its growth, survival and death were studied as functions of low temperatures, NaCl and phenol compounds, in a synthetic medium, by a factorially designed experiment. A significant inactivation of L. monocytogenes was obtained with 20 ppm of phenol and 4% (w/v) NaCl at temperatures from 4 to 12 degrees C. An empirical model is proposed to describe, in a single step, the biomass profile vs studied factors. Thereby, the influence of temperature, NaCl and phenol concentration on L. monocytogenes biomass quantity (0.5-8 log cfu ml(-1)) are presented as a function of storage duration. The comparisons of the proposed model with existing models (Gompertz for growth, vitalistic for survival and death) were performed. The use of a single equation allows the prediction of contamination levels in all experimental conditions without knowledge a priori. The model offers considerable prospects for its use in food microbiology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et de Technologie Alimentaires, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. membre@lille.inra.fr
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Membré
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thurette
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Catteau
mesh_terms: D005516:Food Microbiology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D012906:Smoke; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012906:Smoke; D012965:Sodium Chloride