title: Chitosan inhibits enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens type A in growth medium and chicken meat.
abstract: Clostridium perfringens is a spore-forming bacterium and a major cause of bacterial food-borne illness. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of chitosan against spore germination, spore outgrowth and vegetative growth of C. perfringens food poisoning (FP) isolates. Chitosan of differing molecular weights inhibited germination of spores of all tested FP isolates in a KCl germinant solution containing 0.1 mg/ml chitosan at pH 4.5. However, higher level (0.25 mg/ml) of chitosan was required to effectively arrest outgrowth of the germinated C. perfringens spores in Tripticase-yeast extract-glucose (TGY) medium. Furthermore, chitosan (1.0 mg/ml) was bacteriostatic against vegetative cells of C. perfringens in TGY medium. Although chitosan showed strong inhibitory activities against C. perfringens in laboratory medium, higher levels (2.0 mg/g) were required to achieve similar inhibition of spores inoculated into chicken meat. In summary, the inhibitory effects of chitosan against C. perfringens FP isolates was concentration dependent, and no major difference was observed when using different molecule weight chitosan as an inhibitor. Our results contribute to a better understanding on the potential application of chitosan in cooked meat products to control C. perfringens-associated disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA; Department of Biology, College of Science Yanbu, Taibah University, Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alnoman
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pathima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Udompijitkul
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA; Department of Microbiology, College of Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA. Electronic address: sarkerm@oregonstate.edu.
authors.forename: Mahfuzur R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sarker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D048271:Chitosan / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003296:Cooking; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000737:chemistry; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D010848:Picolinic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005520:Food Preservatives; D010848:Picolinic Acids; D048271:Chitosan; C004860:dipicolinic acid
keywords: Chitosan; Clostridium perfringens; Germination; Inhibition; Spores