Prediction of Listeria monocytogenes growth kinetics in sausages formulated with antimicrobials as a function of temperature and concentrations

This study was conducted to develop a model to describe the effect of antimicrobials [potassium sorbate (PS), potassium lactate (PL), and combined PL and sodium diacetate (SDA, PLSDA)] on the growth parameters of Listeria monocytogenes such as specific growth rate (SGR) and lag phase periods (LT) in air-dried raw sausages as a function of storage temperature (4, 10, 16, and 25°C). Results showed that the SGR of L. monocytogenes was dependent on the storage temperature and level of antimicrobials used. The most effective treatment was the 4% PLSDA, followed by the 2% PLSDA and 4% PL and 0.2% PS exhibited the least antimicrobial effect. Increased growth rates were observed with increasing storage temperatures from 4 to 25°C. The growth data were fitted with a Gompertz equation to determine the SGR and LT of the L. monocytogenes. Six polynomial models were developed for the SGR and LT to evaluate the effect of PS (0.1, 0.2%) and PL (2, 4%) alone and PLSDA (2, 4%) on the growth kinetics of L. monocytogenes from 4 to 25°C.