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• Lobete, M
• Puga, C
• San Jose, C
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• Lobete, M
• Puga, C
• San Jose, C
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• Lobete, M
• Puga, C
• San Jose, C

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2011, 12(1), 817-828; doi:10.3390/ijms12010817

Article

Effectiveness of Chitosan against Mature Biofilms Formed by Food Related Bacteria

Belen Orgaz* , Maria M. Lobete, Carmen H. Puga and Carmen San Jose

Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 21 December 2010; in revised form: 15 January 2011 / Accepted: 17 January 2011 / Published: 21 January 2011

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chitins)

Download PDF Full-Text [1086 KB, uploaded 21 January 2011 16:57 CET]

Abstract: Chitosan has proven antimicrobial properties against planktonic cell growth. Little is known, however, about its effects on already established biofilms. Oriented for application in food industry disinfection, the effectiveness of both medium molecular weight (MMW) chitosan and its enzymatically hydrolyzed product was tested against mature biofilms of four pathogenic strains, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica, and a food spoilage species, Pseudomonas fluorescens. Unexpectedly, log reductions were in some cases higher for biofilm than for planktonic cells. One hour exposure to MMW chitosan (1% w/v) caused a 6 log viable cell reduction on L. monocytogenes monospecies mature biofilms and reduced significantly (3–5 log reductions) the attached population of the other organisms tested, except S. aureus. Pronase-treated chitosan was more effective than MMW chitosan on all tested microorganisms, also with the exception of S. aureus, offering best results (8 log units) against the attached cells of B. cereus. These treatments open a new possibility to fight against mature biofilms in the food industry.

Keywords: biofilm; chitosan; pronase; disinfection; food industry; Listeria monocytogenes; Bacillus cereus

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