Effect of temperature on growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus [corrected] and Vibrio vulnificus in flounder, salmon sashimi and oyster meat.

Yoo Kim,In Hwang,Soon Lee,Ki Yoon

doi:10.3390/ijerph9124662

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus are the major pathogenic Vibrio species which contaminate ready-to-eat seafood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of human illness resulting from consumption of ready-to-eat seafood such as sashimi and raw oyster meat due to the presence of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. We compared the growth kinetics of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus strains in broth and ready-to-eat seafood, including flounder and salmon sashimi, as a function of temperature. The growth kinetics of naturally occurring V. vulnificus in raw oyster meat was also evaluated. The minimum growth temperatures of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in broth were 13 °C and 11 °C, respectively. Overall, significant differences in lag time (LT) and specific growth rate (SGR) values between flounder and salmon sashimi were observed at temperatures ranging from 13 °C to 30 °C (p < 0.05). The growth of naturally occurring V. vulnificus reached stationary phase at ~4 log CFU/g in oysters, regardless of the storage temperature. This data indicates that the population of V. vulnificus in oysters did not reach the maximum population density as observed in the broth, where growth of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus isolated from oysters grew up to >8 log CFU/mL.

Highlights

Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus are the most common Vibrio species associated with illnesses resulting from consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood worldwide [1,2,3,4]
* Initial inoculation level; † Initial contamination level (n = 4) in oyster. These results indicate that the populations of naturally occurring V. vulnificus in oysters did not reach the maximum population density observed in the broth
V. vulnificus was more frequently detected than V. parahaemolyticus in oysters from grocery markets in Korea from September to March

Summary

Introduction

Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus are the most common Vibrio species associated with illnesses resulting from consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood worldwide [1,2,3,4]. Several cases of food poisoning due to the consumption of salmon sashimi contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus have been reported. It is important to control the growth of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in sashimi and sushi, which are becoming more popular in many other countries [10]. Oysters are frequently eaten raw and are the food most commonly associated with Vibrio infection in many countries [11,12]. It is necessary to limit the growth of Vibrio spp. in contaminated seafood in order to minimize the risk of foodborne illnesses due to seafood consumption

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Results

Conclusion