title: Incidence, diversity and characteristics of spores of psychrotolerant spore formers in various REPFEDS produced in Belgium.
abstract: The major objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of psychrotolerant spore formers from REPFEDS marketed in Belgium, and their diversity and characteristics. Spore formers in general were found as spores on 38.3% of the food samples and in 85% food products types evaluated. 76% of the food samples containing spore formers had spores before enrichment. A total of 86 spore formers were isolated from the samples. 28 of 86 bacterial spore formers (32.6%) were capable of vegetative growth at 7 °C. 96% (27/28) of these psychrotolerant spore formers were determined to belong to Bacillus or related genera. According to a (GTG)5-PCR analysis, 24 of these 28 isolates were genetically distinct from each other. 10.7% (3/28) of the bacilli were determined to belong to the Bacillus cereus group, namely B. cereus (chicken curry and Edam cheese) and Bacillus mycoides (Emmental cheese). Almost half of the bacilli (12/27) were putatively identified as Bacillus pumilus, which occurs ubiquitously in nature and has been associated with outbreaks of foodborne disease. Only one psychrotolerant clostridium, Clostridium tyrobutyricum, was isolated in the study. The results of this study show the highly diverse ecology and spoilage potential of psychrotolerant spore formers in REPFEDs marketed in Belgium.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Member of Food2Know, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: Simbarashe.Samapundo@UGent.be.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samapundo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Member of Food2Know, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Devlieghere
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Member of Food2Know, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xhaferi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Technology and Food Sciences Unit, Member of Food2Know, Brusselsesteenweg 370, 9090 Melle, Belgium; Department of Pathology, Bacteriology, and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heyndrickx
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001530:Belgium; D044822:Biodiversity; D003080:Cold Temperature; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000382:microbiology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005516:Food Microbiology; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: Diversity; Psychrotolerant; Ready-to-eat food; Spore formers