Factors Influencing Sporulation and Adhesiveness of Alicyclobacillus Acidoterrestris and the Effect of Cleaning in Place (cip) Using Oxidizing Agents

This study investigated the sporulation behaviour of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris DSM 2498 under different culture condition, its cellular surface hydrophobicity. The effects of sanitizers used in cleaning-in-place (CIP) on the survival of this bacterium was also evaluated using a stainless steel 304 model system with total capacity of 25 litters. The higher hydrophobicity value was related to a higher relative spore concentration. The adhered cells that were predominantly in a spore form, attached irreversibly to the coupons, and their total elimination was not achieved after a full CIP procedure with neither of the sanitizing products. Cleaning procedure using peracetic acid and dichloroisocyanurate as sanitizers resulted in 0.7 to 2.2 decimal reductions, leaving ca 100 attached cells/cm 2 . It is concluded that although the cleaning procedure reduces the biotransfer potential, the growth of A. acidoterrestris in juice must be controlled by combining with other methods.