title: Stevia-based sweeteners as a promising alternative to table sugar: The effect on Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium growth dynamics.
abstract: Sugar is commonly substituted with stevia-based products in food industry and in our daily-life. This substitution results in a change in food product characteristic formula and properties that may affect the growth dynamics of food pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. This work studies the effect of table sugar (TS), laboratory sucrose (LS), commercial stevia (St) and steviol glycosides (SG) on the growth dynamics of Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes. Experiments were carried out in general and minimal culture media at 3 equivalent concentration levels in terms of sweetness intensity (TS and LS at 3, 9 and 15% (w/v); St at 0.3, 0.9 and 1.5% (w/v); and SG at 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05% (w/v)). Incubation temperatures were: 4, 8 and 20°C for general media, and for minimal media 20°C. To decipher the role of these sweeteners, their concentration evolution in minimal media was determined via HPLC analysis. The results revealed slow maximum specific growth rates (μmax) of S. Typhimurium in general media with increasing concentrations of TS and LS at 20°C; and reduced maximum cell population (Nmax) at 8°C. The growth of L. monocytogenes in general culture media remains invariable independently of the sweetener added, except at 4°C. At this critical temperature, the presence of TS, LS and St seems to facilitate the growth of L. monocytogenes, presenting higher μmaxvalues in comparison to SG and the control. Varying bacterial response to changes in media formulation suggests that further research is required, focusing on revealing the microbial dynamics in structured media, as well as in real food products.
authors.affiliation: CPMF2 - Flemish Cluster Predictive Microbiology in Foods, Belgium; BioTeC+ - Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology and Control, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: María M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lobete
authors.affiliation: CPMF2 - Flemish Cluster Predictive Microbiology in Foods, Belgium; BioTeC+ - Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology and Control, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baka
authors.affiliation: CPMF2 - Flemish Cluster Predictive Microbiology in Foods, Belgium; BioTeC+ - Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology and Control, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Estefanía
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Noriega
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Microbial and Bio-Chemical Technology, Cluster for Bioengineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ostend, Belgium.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jooken
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Microbial and Bio-Chemical Technology, Cluster for Bioengineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ostend, Belgium.
authors.forename: Annick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monballiu
authors.affiliation: CPMF2 - Flemish Cluster Predictive Microbiology in Foods, Belgium; BioTeC+ - Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology and Control, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Beurme
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Microbial and Bio-Chemical Technology, Cluster for Bioengineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ostend, Belgium.
authors.forename: Boudewijn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meesschaert
authors.affiliation: CPMF2 - Flemish Cluster Predictive Microbiology in Foods, Belgium; BioTeC+ - Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology and Control, KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: jan.vanimpe@kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Jan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Van Impe
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000737:chemistry*; D045786:Diterpenes, Kaurane / Q000737:chemistry*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005960:Glucosides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D064306:Non-Nutritive Sweeteners / Q000737:chemistry*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects*; D036625:Stevia / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D045786:Diterpenes, Kaurane; D005960:Glucosides; D064306:Non-Nutritive Sweeteners; C012043:stevioside
keywords: Food pathogens; HPLC; Minimal media; Novel-sweeteners; Steviol glycosides