Effect of Nitrite on Destruction and Germination of Clostridium Botulinum and Putrefactive Anaerobes 3679 and 3679h in Meat and in Buffer

Abstract

Spores of Clostridium botulinum strains 62A and 13983B and Puterfactive Anaerobe (PA) strains 3679 and 3679h were heated in meat or in phosphate buffer, pH 6.2, with increasing concentrations of sodium nitrite. Thereafter, they were incubated at 30C. Nitrite at commercially used levels (200ppm) neither enhanced destruction during heating nor germination during incubation. As the nitrite concentration was increased to 400 – 1600ppm, there was a trend to destruction of more spores by heat, and more germination of spores during post-heating incubation. However, with C. botulinum, nirite-induced germination was insignificant compared to germination by meat alone: 99.0–99.9% of the spores germinated during 1 day of post-heating incubation in meat without nirite.PA3679 spores were destroyed little, or not at all, by heating to Fo=0.8 with up to 400ppm of nitrite. However, when nitrite was increased to 800 – 1600ppm there was a trend that showed destruction of more spores during heating, and germination of more spores during post-heating incubation. Spores of PA3679 did not germinate in meat to the same extent as spores of C. botulinum and PA 3679h.PA 3679h spores were much more heat sensitive and germinated to a greater extent than spores of the other cultures. In buffer, germination during incubation was directly proportional to the pre-incubation heat treatment and was affected only slightly or not at all by up to 800ppm of sodium nitrite.The main value of nitrite in stabilizing canned, cured shelf-stable meats appears to reside in its ability to aid in the prevention of growth from spores that survive heat processing and germinate during post-processing storage.