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Biomedical subjects

R Firstenberg-Eden

Publications and source records attributed to R Firstenberg-Eden.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

A new rapid automated method for the detection of Listeria from environmental swabs and sponges.

Many food and meat processors test environmental swabs and sponges to confirm the absence of Listeria spp. Spectral pattern changes in a liquid growth medium, resulting from esculin hydrolysis by Listeria in contaminated swabs and sponges, were automatically monitored by the BioSys instrument in a semifluid layer (SFL). The blackening of SFL in modified MOX broth resulted in sharply declining curves, which were easily detected by the instrument. The instrument detected all nine strains of Listeria monocytogenes tested. None of the gram negative organisms (Proteus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, Citrobacter and Yersinia) were detected by the system, nor were most gram positive organisms, including Bacillus, Streptococcus, and Lactobacillus strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis, which hydrolyze esculin, produced black colonies on PALCAM and Oxford media and were also detected in the system. A total of 122 sponges and swabs collected at food processing plants were evaluated by this method. Of these, 99 were negative, and 11 were positive. L. innocua was the dominant Listeria species in these environmental samples. Good correlation was obtained between numbers of Listeria and detection times of esculin hydrolysis: 1000 CFU/swab were detected in 10-13 h, whereas 1-10 CFU/swab were detected in less than 22 h. The total assay time was 26 h.

Animals↗

Novel selective and non-selective optical detection of microorganisms.

A new instrument, capable of detecting metabolic changes due to microbiological activity, is described. Optical changes in growth media are monitored in a semi-fluid zone that separates the liquid medium containing the sample. Data demonstrate that common media can be utilized in conjunction with this rapid automated technology. Nutrient broth with the pH dye indicator. bromocresol purple was suitable for total counts. Selective media containing dyes were utilized to assess the presence or absence of specific groups of organisms. Biochemical reactions, such as lysine decarboxylase activity, were identified by the unique generated patterns, and specific enzymatic cleavage reactions with chromogenic substrates, such as 5-bromo-4 chloro-3 indolyl-beta-D-glucuronic acid (X-GLUC), were monitored.

Bacillus cereus↗

Thermal inactivation and injury of Moraxella-Acinetobacter cells in ground beef.

The thermal inactivation and injury (sensitivity to 0.8% NaCl) of a radiation-resistant culture of Moraxella-Acinetobacter mixed in minced beef were determined. Survival curves for Moraxella-Acinetobacter cells in beef had an initial shoulder preceding a logarithmic decline when the cells were heated at 65, 70, and 75 degrees C, but not at 80 degrees C. In all cases, the experimental points not included in the shoulder were linearized by means of a least-squares straight line, and the latter was used to determine D values. Shoulder values of 12.2, 4.1, and 0.6 min at temperatures of 65, 70, and 75 degrees C were added to the respective D values of 35.4, 6.6, and 1.4 min to determine the time required to destroy one log cycle. The Z value was 7.3 degrees C. Moraxella-Acinetobacter cells in meat were more rapidly injured than inactivated, on initial exposure to heat. The number of cells injured by this initial exposure increased as the temperature was increased. At 65 degrees C the percentage of injured cells increased more rapidly with exposure time than did the inactivated cells. As the temperature was increased, the rates of inactivation and injury became more and more similar.

Acinetobacter↗

Factors affecting inactivation of Moraxella-Acinetobacter cells in an irradiation process.

The effect of various stages of the irradiation processing of beef on the injury and inactivation of radiation-resistant Moraxella-Acinetobactor cells was studied. Moraxella-Acinetobacter cells were more resistant to heat inactivation and injury when heated in meat with salts (0.75% NaCl and 0.375% sodium tripolyphosphate) then in meat without salts. These salts had no effect on radiation resistance. Both radiation- and heat-injured cells were unable to form colonies at 30 degrees C in plate count agar containing 0.8% NaCl. Neither unstressed nor heat-stressed cells were able to multiply in minced beef incubated at 30 degrees C for 12 h. Only after the beef was diluted 1:10 with peptone water were the heat-injured cells able to repair and eventually multiply. Heated cells were more sensitive to radiation inactivation and injury than unheated cells. After repair, the cells regained their resistance to both NaCl and irradiation. Freezing and storage at -40 degrees C for 14 days had only a slight effect on either unstressed or heat-stressed cells.

Acinetobacter↗

Death and injury of Staphytococcus aureus during thermal treatment of milk.

Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk and grown in milk was heated in milk. The phenomena of death as well as injury was investigated in the range of 50 to 75 degrees C. The D60 value (decimal reduction time on salt-free medium) was 0.87 min, the D'60 value (decimal reduction time in salt-containing medium) was 0.62 min. Cultures were injured as soon as heating started. This initial thermal shock increased with increasing temperature. At 50-60 degrees C injury was more rapid than death. At greater than 60 degrees C death became faster than injury and the two processes coincided at 70 degrees C. The Z value was 9.46 degrees C and the Z' value was 9.93 degrees C.

Animals↗