Effect of Carbon Dioxide on Growth of Meat Spoilage Bacteria

Abstract

The ability of CO 2 to inhibit respiration and growth of representative strains of seven species of meat spoilage bacteria was examined. Enterobacter and Microbacterium thermosphactum were unaffected by CO 2 . Both respiration and growth of the other species were inhibited. With four of the species (fluorescent and nonfluorescent Pseudomonas, Alteromonas putrefaciens , and Yersinia enterocolitica ), the inhibition pattern in a complex medium was similar, and inhibition was incomplete and reached a maximum level at comparatively low concentrations of CO 2 . With Acinetobacter , inhibition continued to increase with increasing CO 2 concentration. The degree of inhibition with a constant concentration of CO 2 in solution increased with decreasing temperature for all CO 2 -susceptible species except the nonfluorescent Pseudomonas. Anaerobic growth of CO 2 -susceptible facultative anaerobes was unaffected by CO 2 .