Innovative Sensor Approach to Follow Campylobacter jejuni Development

Campylobacter spp infection affects more than 200,000 people every year in Europe and in the last four years a trend shows an increase in campylobacteriosis. The main vehicle for transmission of the bacterium is contaminated food like meat, milk, fruit and vegetables. In this study, the aim was to find characteristic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of C. jejuni in order to detect its presence with an array of metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors. Using a starting concentration of 10³ CFU/mL, VOCs were analyzed using Gas-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (GC-MS) with a Solid-Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) technique at the initial time (T0) and after 20 h (T20). It has been found that a Campylobacter sample at T20 is characterized by a higher number of alcohol compounds that the one at T0 and this is due to sugar fermentation. Sensor results showed the ability of the system to follow bacteria curve growth from T0 to T20 using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). In particular, this results in a decrease of ΔR/R₀ value over time. For this reason, MOX sensors are a promising technology for the development of a rapid and sensitive system for C. jejuni.