Factors affecting the growth and survival of micro organisms in foods

Presented by
D. Mona Othman Albureikan
Food Microbiology
Factors Affecting the Growth and
Survival of Micro-organisms in
Foods

MICROBIAL GROWTH
-Microbial growth is an autocatalytic process.
-And the rate of growth will increase with the
amount of viable biomass present.
- This means no
growth will occur
without the presence
of at least one viable
cell.

The microbial growth curve
1- The lag phase, the period where the individual
microbe is maturing and not yet able to divide,
synthesis of RNA, enzymes and other molecules occurs.
2- The exponential or logarithmic phase (an increase in
cell numbers).
3- The stationary phase the nutrients become depleted,
the formation of an inhibitory product accumulate
(organic acid).
4- At death phase,(Decline phase) the microbe die.

The factors that
affect microbial
growth in foods can
be divided into four
groups along the
lines suggested more
than 50 years ago by
Mossel and Ingram.
The factors that affect microbial
growth in foods

The factors that affect microbial
growth in foods
1- Physico-chemical
properties of the food itself
(intrinsic factors).
2- Conditions of the storage
environment (extrinsic factors).
3- Properties and interactions
of the microorganisms present
(implicit factors).
4- Processing factors.

Intrinsic Factors
1- Nutrients.
2- pH and buffering
capacity.
3- Redox potential.
4- Water activity.
5- Antimicrobial
constituents.
6- Antimicrobial structures.

INTRINSIC FACTORS
(SUBSTRATE LIMITATIONS)
Nutrient Content
1-Like us,
microorganisms can use
foods as a source of
nutrients and energy.
2- The inability of an organism to utilize a major
component of a food material will limit its growth and
put it at a competitive disadvantage compared with
those that can.

3- Thus, the ability to
synthesize amylolytic
(starch degrading)
enzymes will favour
the growth of an
organism on cereals
and other starchy
products.
INTRINSIC FACTORS

4- The addition of fruits
containing sucrose and other
sugars to yoghurt increases
the range of carbohydrates
available and allows the
development of a more
diverse spoilage microflora of
yeasts.
INTRINSIC FACTORS

The concentration
of key nutrients
can, to some
extent, determine
the rate of
microbial growth.
INTRINSIC FACTORS

pH and Buffering Capacity
-As measured, pH is equal to the negative logarithm
of the hydrogen ion activity.
-For aqueous solutions, pH7 = neutrality, pH below 7 =
acidic and pH above 7 = an alkaline environment.

-The acidity or alkalinity of an environment has effect on
the activity and stability of macromolecules (enzymes), so
the growth and metabolism of microbs are influenced by
pH.
-Most food are at least slightly acidic.

-The acidity of a product can have important
implications for its microbial ecology and the rate
and character of its spoilage.

- Plant products classed as vegetables generally have
a moderately acid pH and soft-rot producing bacteria
such as Pectobacterium carotovorum and
Pseudomonads play a significant role in their spoilage.

- In fruits, a lower pH prevents bacterial growth
and spoilage is dominated by yeasts and moulds.

- As a rule, fish spoil more rapidly than meat under chill
conditions.
-The pH of mammalian muscle, around 5.6, is lower than
that of fish (6.2–6.5) and this contributes to the longer
storage life of meat.

- The ability of low
pH to restrict
microbial growth
has been used since
the earliest times in
the preservation of
foods with acetic
and lactic acids.

Redox Potential
- An oxidation–reduction
(redox) reaction occurs as
the result of a transfer of
electrons between atoms or
molecules.
- In living cells an ordered sequence of both electron
and hydrogen transfer reactions is an essential
feature of the electron transport chain and energy
generation by oxidative phosphorylation.

1- Redox couples present. 2- Ratio of oxidant to reductant
3- pH. 4- Poising capacity. 5- Availability of oxygen
(physical state, packing). 6- Microbial activity
Redox Potential
The redox potential in food is the result of several factors;

- individual microorganisms are classified into
one of several physiological groups on the basis
of the redox range over which they can grow and
their response to oxygen.
Redox Potential

Water Activity
- Water is a remarkable compound.
- Life as we know it is
totally dependent on
the presence of water
in its liquid state.
- Many microorganisms can survive but not
grow when their cytoplasm has been completely
dried.

-The reactions which take place in the cytoplasm were done
in an aqueous environment.
- The cytoplasm is surrounded by a membrane which is
generally permeable to water molecules which may pass
freely from the cytoplasm to the environment and from the
environment to the cytoplasm.
Water Activity

- In our lives we think of water
as existing in its liquid state
between freezing point (0 C°)
and boiling point (100 C°).
- But the freezing point of water can be depressed by
the presence of solutes and there are a number of
microorganisms which can actively grow at subzero
temperatures because their cytoplasm contains one or
more compounds, such as a polyol, which act as an
antifreeze.
Water Activity

-Similarly the boiling point of water can
be high by increased hydrostatic
pressure.
-In nature, very high pressures exist at
the bottom of the deep oceans.
-Under these situation the temperature of
liquid water may be well above 100 C°.
-The relatively recent exploration of
submarine volcanic vents has uncovered
some remarkable bacteria which can
indeed grow at such high temperatures.
Water Activity

- Water in the environment of
the living organism may be
present, not only in the liquid
phase as pure water or a
solution, but also in the
atmosphere in the gaseous
phase, or associated with
what would be described
macroscopically as the solid
phase.
Water Activity

- In pure water, the
water molecules will
move into the cytoplasm
of micro-organism.
- If it cannot control this
it will increase in size
and burst.
Water Activity
- With a reduction of water activity in their environment
the number of groups of micro-organisms capable of
active growth decrease.

- low water activities are associated with three special
types of food , three terms are used to describe the
micro-organisms especially associated with these foods:
Water Activity
(1) halotolerant – able to grow in the
presence of high concentrations of salt.
(2) osmotolerant, able to grow in the
presence of high concentrations of organic
compounds (sugars).
(3) xerotolerant – able to grow on dry
foods.

Minimum water activities at which active
growth can occur
Group of micro-organism Minimum aw
Most Gram-negative bacteria 0.97
Most Gram-positive bacteria 0.90
Most yeasts 0.88
Most filamentous fungi 0.80
Halophilic bacteria 0.75
Xerophilic fungi 0.61
Osmophilic yeasts 0.60

Antimicrobial Barriers and Constituents
- A physical barrier to
infection such as the skin,
shell of a product.
- It is usually composed of macromolecules resistant to
degradation provides inappropriate environment for
microorganisms by;
1- Having a low water activity. 2- A shortage of easily
available nutrients. 3- Antimicrobial compounds such as
short chain fatty acids (on animal skin) or essential oils (on
plant surfaces).

-As a second line of defense, the product tissues may
contain antimicrobial components, the local concentration
of which often increases as a result of physical damage.
-Antimicrobial components
differ in their spectrum of
activity and potency.
- In Allium species (garlic
onions and leeks) to produce
thiosulfinates such as Allicin.

- The white or albumen of the hen’s egg which possesses
a whole battery of inhibitory components.

EXTRINSIC FACTORS
(ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITATIONS)
1- Relative humidity.
2- Temperature.
3- Gaseous atmosphere.

Relative humidity
- The relative humidity and water
activity are interrelated.
- The relative humidity is
essentially a measure of the water
activity of the gas phase.
- When food commodities having
a low water activity are stored in
an atmosphere of high relative
humidity water will transfer from
the gas phase to the food.

-Once microorganisms have started to grow and
become physiologically active they usually produce
water as an end product of respiration.
- Thus they increase the water
activity of their own immediate
environment so that eventually
microorganisms requiring a high
aw are able to grow and spoil a food which was initially
considered to be microbiologically stable.
Relative humidity

-The storage of fresh fruit and vegetables
requires very careful control of relative humidity.
Relative humidity
- If it is too low then
many vegetables will
lose water and
become flaccid.
-If it is too high then condensation may occur and
microbial spoilage may be initiated.

Temperature
- Microbial growth can
occur over a temperature
range from about 8 C° up to
100 C° at atmospheric
pressure.
- Each organism exhibits a
minimum, optimum and
maximum temperature
at which growth can occur.

1- Mesophiles, temperature optima around 37 C°, origin in
human or animal, include many of the foodborne pathogens
(Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium
perfringens).
2- True or strict psychrophiles (‘cold loving’), optima of 12–15
C° and will not grow above about 20 C°.
Temperature
- Microorganisms can be classified into several physiological
groups based on their main temperatures.
3- Thermophiles, generally less importance in food
microbiology, although thermophilic spore formers (Bacillus and
Clostridium species do problems in some situations.

Gaseous Atmosphere
- The inhibitory effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) on
microbial growth is applied in modified-atmosphere
packing of food and is an advantageous consequence
of its use at elevated pressures (hyperbaric) in
carbonated mineral waters and soft drinks.
- Oxygen comprises 21% of
the earth’s atmosphere and
is the most important gas in
contact with food.

Gaseous Atmosphere
- Gram-negative bacteria
are most sensitive and
the Gram-positive
bacteria, particularly the
lactobacilli, tend to be
most resistant.
- Some yeasts such as Brettanomyces spp. also show
considerable tolerance of high CO2 levels and dominate
the spoilage microflora of carbonated beverages.

IMPLICIT FACTORS
1- Specific growth rate 2- Mutualism
3- Antagonism 4- Commensalism

IMPLICIT FACTORS
- A third set of factors that are important in
determining the nature of microbial associations
found in foods it described as implicit factors.
– Properties of the organisms themselves, how they
respond to their environment and interact with one
another.
- Ecologists have identified a number of different
ways in which organisms can interact, also, can be
seen in the microbial ecology of food systems.

1- Mutualism, when growth of one
organism stimulates the growth of
another, is well illustrated by the
interaction of the starter cultures in
yogurt fermentation.
- Similar stimulatory effects can be
seen in spoilage associations of
spoilage organisms seen when
growth of one organism paves the
way for others.
IMPLICIT FACTORS

Factors affecting the growth and survival of micro organisms in foods

IMPLICIT FACTORS
- For example, water
activity may be sufficiently
low to prevent the growth of
all but a few fungi, once
these begin to grow, water
produced by their
respiration increases the
local water activity allowing
less xerophilic moulds to
take over.

- Alternatively, one organism might increase the availability
of nutrients to others by degrading a food component such
as starch or protein into
more readily assimilable
compounds.
-Some micro-organisms
may remove an inhibitory
component and thereby
permit the growth of others.
- Commensalism.
IMPLICIT FACTORS

- Micro-organisms may be antagonistic towards
one another producing inhibitory compounds or
sequestering essential nutrients such as iron.
IMPLICIT FACTORS

Processing factors
1- Slicing
2- Washing
3- Packing
4- Irradiation
5- Pasteurization

PREDICTIVE FOOD MICROBIOLOGY
- Understanding how different properties of a food, its
environment and its history can influence the
microflora that
develops on storage
is an important first
step towards being
able to make
predictions concerning
shelf-life, spoilage and safety.

References
1- James M. Jay. (2013). Modern Food
Microbiology . Springer; Softcover reprint of
the original 1st ed. 1996 edition (April 26,
2013)
2- Martin R. Adams and Maurice O. Moss.
(2007). Food Microbiology. Royal Society of
Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science
Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 0WF, UK.
September 11, 2007.
3- Some pictures from different sits.

Factors affecting the growth and survival of micro organisms in foods

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Factors affecting the growth and survival of micro organisms in foods