Effect of Organic Acids on the Survival of Escherichia coli 0157:H7

The inhibitory effect of various organic acids on the growth and survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in tryptic soy broth with 0.6% yeast extract at 37$^{\circ}C$ or 4$^{\circ}C$ was determined. Minimal inhibitory pHs of acetic acid, citric acid, fumaric acid, hydrochloric acid and lactic acid were 5.0, 4.0, 4.5, 4.0 and 4.5, respectively. Acetic acid (0.012 m) showed the strongest antimicrobial activity, based on the pH values or equivalent molar concentrations, followed by lactic acid (0.0006 M), fumaric acid (0.004M) and citirc acid (0.004 M), respectively, E. coli O157:H7 with an initial inoculum of {TEX}$10^{7}${/TEX} CFU/ml and {TEX}$10^{5}{/TEX} CFU/ml in tryptic soy broth supplemented with 0.6% yeast extract, acidified to target pH with citric, fumaric and lactic acids at 37$^{\circ}C$, was completely inactivated after 7 d and 5 d incubation, respectively, except for the acetic acid (9 d). The bactericidal effect decreased at the same pH when the incubation temperature a was reduced from 37$^{\circ}C$ to 4$^{\circ}C$. The pH values of 0.2% acetic (pH 5.1), 0.6% citric (pH 4.2) and 0.4% lactic acid (pH 4.3) in TSBYE were almost correspondent to the minimal inhibitory pH values on E. coli O157:H7 of acetic (pH 4.0), citric (pH 4.0) and lactic acids (pH 4.5).