Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #188898
Title: TREATMENT AND CONTROL OF DIVERSE STRAINS OF LISTERIA WITH DISINFECTANT

Author
item Arnold, Judy
item COVERT, BRITTANY - 6612-05-05
item SALLEY-GUYDON, JUDITH - SC STATE UNIV

Submitted to: The Louis Stokes-South Carolina Alliance Science & Engineering Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/8/2005
Publication Date: 7/23/2005
Citation: Arnold, J.W., Covert, B., Salley-Guydon, J. 2005. Treatment and control of diverse strains of listeria with disinfectant. The Louis Stokes-South Carolina Alliance Science & Engineering Conference. #25, p 13.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Health problems caused by food-borne illnesses that occur in the presence of bacteria have become a major concern for the public. Listeria monocytogenes, with a 20 percent death rate among its victims, can cause diarrhea, fever, and chills. Most of the product recalls in the last two years occurred because of contamination with L. monocytogenes. Because of the detrimental effect that these microbes have on consumers as well as the poultry and meat industries, studies were performed to determine how the growth of these microbes could be inhibited before and after they reach the public. Listeria strains, isolated from meat and poultry products, were grown on brain heart infusion agar and confirmed by the Gram stain and growth on Chromagar. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella cholerasius, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as representatives of bacterial pathogenicity and spoilage activity, were compared with the Listeria species. A germicide test was performed on all the bacterial species to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of disinfectant needed to kill the pathogen. Each strain was spread onto a trypticase soy agar plate. In each of six sections on the plate, ten ÿl of a test compound was applied from a series of concentrations. The plate was incubated at 37°C for 24 hours, and the zone of inhibition for each concentration was recorded. There was some inhibitory activity for all species, and the minimum concentration of the test compound that inhibited the growth of Listeria strains ranged from 25 ppm to 200 ppm. Future research will indicate the stability, activity, and residual killing time of the compound against Listeria species grown within biofilms.