FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2016, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (22): 205-209.doi: 10.7506/spkx1002-6630-201622031

• Safety Detection • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Isolation and Identification of Radiation Resistant Microorganisms Detected in Radiation Sterilize Pouches

JI Minghuai, GAO Wen, ZHOU Guoping*   

  1. School of Biology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China
  • Received:2016-01-14 Online:2016-11-16 Published:2017-02-22

Abstract: Objective: To count, isolate and identify the radiation-resistant microorganisms present in 5 L sterile pouches provided by a tomato paste producer, sterilized by radiation at doses equal to or greater than 15 kGy. Methods: The pouches were washed repeatedly with 3 L of sterile water. The water was filtrated through a membrane and then spread on medium plates for counting microbial colonies. Finally, the microorganisms were isolated, purified and identified at the genus and species levels by analysis of their 16S rDNA sequences and dnaJ sequences. Results: All 5 batches of samples were found to contain detectable levels of bacteria, varying from 5 to 132 CFU/pouch. After analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences of 9 typical colonies, a total of 6 genera were found, namely, Enhydrobacter, Acinetobacter, Kocuria, Micrococcus, Microbacterium and Bacillus. Among these, strain C8-3 was identified as Staphylococcus epidermidis by dnaJ sequence analysis. Conclusion: Although the quantity of the radiation resistant bacteria in sterile pouches is sparse, some of them survive the radiation. Those bacteria may cause more or less effects on food safety and the stability of food quality.

Key words: radiation resistant bacteria, radiation sterilized pouches, Acinetobacter sp., Kocuria sp., Micrococcus spp., Microbacterium spp., Bacillus spp., Enhydrobacter sp., Staphylococcus epidermidis

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