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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Jun 1997, 2246-2251, Vol 63, No. 6
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Occurrence of a Highly Heat-Sensitive Spore Subpopulation of Bacillus coagulans STCC 4522 and Its Conversion to a More Heat-Stable Form

A Palop, FJ Sala and S Condon
Tecnologia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

The profile of the survival curves, at different heating temperatures, of B. coagulans STCC 4522 sporulated at 52(deg)C has been studied, focusing on the early moments of treatment. A highly heat-sensitive spore subpopulation that includes more than 90% of the total spore population has been found. This heat-sensitive spore fraction was inactivated after 2 s of treatment at 111(deg)C. Its heat resistance was as much as 200-fold lower than that of the heat-resistant spore fraction (D(inf111(deg)C) of 0.01 min for the heat-sensitive spore fraction compared with D(inf111(deg)C) of 2 min for the heat-resistant fraction). The shape of the survival curve at 108.5(deg)C was modified after a sublethal heat shock at 80(deg)C for 3.5 h, resulting in a straight-line survival curve. The temperature of treatment also influenced the shape of the survival curves. The conversion of the highly heat-sensitive spore subpopulation to a more heat-stable form is discussed.