Phenyllactic acid application to control Listeria monocytogenes biofilms and its growth in milk and spiced beef.

Listeria monocytogenes, as a food-associated pathogen, is able to develop biofilms on different surfaces of food contact, which seriously threatens food safety. Phenyllactic acid (PLA) exhibits excellent inhibitory effects on many bacterial strains including L. monocytogenes. Our study aimed to investigate effects of PLA on L. monocytogenes biofilms and its growth in milk and on spiced beef. Biofilm biomass was measured by the microplate method and biofilm structure was observed by electron microscopy. Growth of L. monocytogenes in food samples was determined by colony counting. Results from the agar dilution method demonstrated that L. monocytogenes 10403S had a PLA minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 6 mg/ml. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of PLA could inhibit biofilm formation by reducing the secretion of exopolysaccharides and extracellular proteins in L. monocytogenes. PLA at concentrations above 1/2MIC could destroy mature biofilms of L. monocytogenes by decreasing the exopolysaccharides and extracellular proteins in the biofilm framework. Both swimming and swarming motilities of L. monocytogenes were inhibited by PLA. The hemolytic activity of L. monocytogenes was inactivated by PLA. However, the capacity to attach and invade Caco-2 cells was not affected by PLA. The results displayed that PLA had no effect on the expression of genes associated with motility, but reduced the expression level of the hly gene encoding Listeria hemolysin. When added to ultra-high temperature (UHT) whole and pasteurized milk, PLA at 3 mg/ml inhibited L. monocytogenes growth through 14 days of storage at 4 °C. PLA at concentrations ≥3 mg/ml significantly reduced L. monocytogenes counts on spiced beef samples during storage. PLA has potential as an alternative antimicrobial to control L. monocytogenes contamination and its biofilms in food industry.

Improvement of the activation of lipase from Candida rugosa following physical and chemical immobilization on modified mesoporous silica.

Lipase from Candida rugosa (CRL) was chemically and physically immobilized onto four types of rod-shaped mesoporous silica (RSMS). RSMS prepared using surfactant P123 and poly(ethylene glycol) as co-templates was functionalized with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to obtain P-RSMS by post-synthesis grafting. Tetraethoxysilane was hydrothermally co-condensed with APTES to obtain C-RSMS. A two-step process using APTES and glutaraldehyde was also performed to obtain G-RSMS. The effects of modification methods (including post-synthesis grafting and co-condensation) and glutaraldehyde on the mesoscopic order, interplanar spacing d100, cell parameter a0, mesoporous structure, and wall thickness of RSMS were studied in detail. Results showed that all samples were mesoporous materials with 2D mesostructures (p6mm). Pore size and d100 decreased, whereas the wall thickness increased after different modifications. CRL was used as a model enzyme to determine the effect of physical and chemical adsorption on loading amount and enzymatic activity. The possible mechanism of CRL immobilization on G-RSMS by chemical adsorption was systematically investigated. The chemical immobilization of CRL on G-RSMS increased the loading amount, hydrolytic activity, thermal stability, and reusability. Moreover, immobilized CRL was employed to catalyze the resolution of 2-octanol by esterification with caprylic acid. The enantiomeric excess of 2-octanol was 45.8% when the reaction was catalyzed by G-RSMS-CRL and decreased to about 38%-39% using the physically immobilized CRL, after 48 h of reaction in hexane.