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Tea polyphenols inactivate Cronobacter sakazakii isolated from powdered infant formula
1Key Laboratory of Dairy Science, Ministry of Education, Department of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China.
Insights
Tea polyphenols (TP) effectively kill Cronobacter sakazakii in powdered infant formula (PIF). TP disrupts bacterial cell membranes, offering a novel approach to PIF safety and preventing contamination.
Area of Science:
- Food Microbiology
- Antimicrobial Agents
- Food Safety
Background:
- Cronobacter sakazakii is a pathogen found in powdered infant formula (PIF).
- Contamination of PIF poses a significant risk to infant health.
- Developing effective methods to eliminate C. sakazakii in PIF is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of tea polyphenols (TP) against Cronobacter sakazakii.
- To compare the efficacy of TP with other organic acids in PIF.
- To investigate the mechanism of TP's bactericidal action.
Main Methods:
- Testing TP antimicrobial activity against four C. sakazakii strains with different sequence types (ST).
- Assessing TP efficacy in normal saline and acidified rehydrated PIF.
- Utilizing transmission electron microscopy to observe cellular damage.
Main Results:
- TP (5mg/mL, pH 3.44) eliminated 7.0 log cfu/mL of C. sakazakii within 1 hour.
- TP demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity in acidified PIF compared to controls.
- C. sakazakii strain CE1 (ST4) exhibited higher tolerance to TP than other strains.
Conclusions:
- Tea polyphenols possess significant bactericidal effects against C. sakazakii.
- TP offers a promising strategy for preventing and inactivating C. sakazakii in PIF.
- Understanding strain-specific tolerance is key for optimizing TP application.
Abstract:
This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of tea polyphenols (TP) against 4 Cronobacter sakazakii strains with different sequence types (ST) isolated from powdered infant formula (PIF). The results showed that in normal saline, 5mg/mL of TP (pH 3.44) could eliminate approximately 7.0 log cfu/mL of C. sakazakii within 1 h; in rehydrated PIF, after acidification with HCl (pH 3.55), TP showed a stronger antibacterial activity compared with the controls (malic acid, ascorbic acid, and citric acid). Further, some differences were obvious in tolerance to TP between C. sakazakii strains with different ST. The tolerance of C. sakazakii CE1 (ST4) to TP was found to be greater than that of the other 3 C. sakazakii strains (ST1, ST8, and ST64). The results of recovered test and transmission electron microscope analysis revealed that the action of TP against C. sakazakii was an irreversible bactericidal process caused by leakage of cytoplasm. Taken together, these results indicated that TP had an effective bactericidal effect against C. sakazakii, and provided a new idea for preventing and inactivating C. sakazakii in PIF.
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