Study on the Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) State Formation of Staphylococcus aureus and Its Control in Food System

Yanmei Li; Teng-Yi Huang; Yuzhu Mao; Yanni Chen; Fan Shi; Ruixin Peng; Jinxuan Chen; Lei Yuan; Caiying Bai; Ling Chen; Ling Chen; Kan Wang; Junyan Liu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.599739

Frontiers in Microbiology (Nov 2020)

Study on the Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) State Formation of Staphylococcus aureus and Its Control in Food System

Yanmei Li,
Teng-Yi Huang,
Yuzhu Mao,
Yanni Chen,
Fan Shi,
Ruixin Peng,
Jinxuan Chen,
Lei Yuan,
Caiying Bai,
Ling Chen,
Ling Chen,
Kan Wang,
Junyan Liu

Affiliations

Yanmei Li: Department of Haematology, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
Teng-Yi Huang: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
Yuzhu Mao: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Yanni Chen: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Fan Shi: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Ruixin Peng: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Jinxuan Chen: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Lei Yuan: College of Food Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
Caiying Bai: Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, China
Ling Chen: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Ling Chen: Research Institute for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Guangzhou, China
Kan Wang: Research Center for Translational Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, China
Junyan Liu: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.599739
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

A Viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state is a bacterial survival strategy under reverse conditions. It poses a significant challenge for public health and food safety. In this study, the effect of external environmental conditions including acid, nutrition, and salt concentrations on the formation of S. aureus VBNC states at low temperatures were investigated. Different acidity and nutritional conditions were then applied to food products to control the VBNC state formation. Four different concentration levels of each factor (acid, nutrition, and salt) were selected in a total of 16 experimental groups. Nutrition showed the highest influence on the VBNC state formation S. aureus, followed by acid and salt. The addition of 1% acetic acid could directly kill S. aureus cells and inhibit the formation of the VBNC state with a nutrition concentration of 25, 50, and 100%. A propidium monoazide-polymerase chain reaction (PMA-PCR) assay was applied and considered as a rapid and sensitive method to detect S. aureus in VBNC state with the detection limit of 104 CFU/mL.

Published in Frontiers in Microbiology

ISSN: 1664-302X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Microbiology
Website: http://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords