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Thermal inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores in cow's milk
Sa Xu1, Theodore P Labuza, Francisco Diez-Gonzalez
1Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Abstract:
Decimal reduction time (time to inactivate 90% of the population) (D) values of Bacillus anthracis spores in milk ranged from 3.4 to 16.7 h at 72 degrees C and from 1.6 to 3.3 s at 112 degrees C. The calculated increase of temperature needed to reduce the D value by 90% varied from 8.7 to 11.0 degrees C, and the Arrhenius activation energies ranged from 227.4 to 291.3 kJ/mol. Six-log-unit viability reductions were achieved at 120 degrees C for 16 s. These results suggest that a thermal process similar to commercial ultrahigh-temperature pasteurization could inactivate B. anthracis spores in milk.
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