THERMAL RESISTANCE OF SPOILAGE MICROORGANISMS required to sterilize the food.

required to sterilize the food. The larger the number of Thermal Death Time (TDT). This refers to the time
The use of high temperature to preserve food is based on Foods artificially adjusted to more alkaline pH values give microorganisms, the higher is the degree of heat resistance. necessary to kill a given number of organisms at a specified
their destructive effects on microorganism. There are two increasing protection to spores against heat as the pH The mechanism of heat protection by large microbial temperature.
groups of microorganisms in canning which are of concern: increases towards pH 9.0. When organic acids (e.g. acetic or populations is due to the production of protective substances By this method, the temperature is kept constant and the
Bacillus and Clostridium. lactic acid) are used to lower the pH, a decrease in heat excreted by time necessary to kill all cells is determined.
resistance occurs the cells.
The genus Bacillus has been incriminated in the spoilage of
canned food products, specifically the anaerobic spore 3. Time and Temperature. The higher the temperature, the 7. Age of Organisms. The heat resistance of vegetative
formers of the group. These are almost always present in greater the killing effect of heat. As temperature increases, cells varies with the stage of growth and of spores with their
low-acid foods and medium-acid foods used as raw material time necessary to achieve the same effect decreases. These age. Bacterial cells tend to be more heat resistant while in
in canning, with a growth temperature requirement0f 28 to rules assume that heating effects are immediate and not the stationary phase of growth (old cells) and less resistant
40 ºC, for the mesophilic type. Some members are mechanically obstructed or hindered (Jay, 2012). during the logarithmic phase. Very young spores are less
thermophilic, developing at 35 to 55 ºC with Bacillus resistant than mature ones.
stearothermophilus optimally growing at 65 ºC. It is also important to consider the size of the heating vessel
or container and its composition (glass, metal, plastic). It 8. Growth Temperature. The heat resistance of
most of these spore formers are facultative anaerobes and takes longer to effect pasteurization or sterilization in large microorganisms tends to increase as the temperature of
heat resistant. On the other hand, the genus Clostridium is a containers than in smaller ones. The ability of containers to incubation increases. This is true to spore formers.
spore-forming anaerobic group which are commonly found conduct heat readily is also an important factor.
in human and animal intestine and are always associated 9. Inhibitory Compounds. A decrease in heat resistance of
with the spoilage of low-acid canned foods. 4. Fats. In the presence of fats, there is a general increase in most microorganisms occurs when heating takes place in The general procedure for determining TDT is to place a
Of greatest importance is Clostridium botulinum which the heat resistance of some microorganisms. Organisms the presence of known number of cells or spores in sealed containers. The
produces toxin known to be fatal to man and animals. suspended in fat or oil are difficult to destroy by heat. This heat-resistant antibiotics and other microbial inhibitors. organisms are placed in an oil bath and heated for the
can be accounted for by the poor heat conductivity of oil. it Examples of these substances include sulphur dioxide, required time period. At the end of the heating period,
Factors Affecting Heat Resistance of Microorganisms has been reported that spores trapped in oil medium can ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide and garlic oil. The use of containers
1. Water. The heat resistance of microbial cells increases germinate which eventually produce lethal toxins in canned heat plus antibiotics and heat plus nitrite has been found to are removed and cooled quickly in cold water. The
with decreasing humidity, moisture or water activity. Dried products. be more effective in controlling the spoilage of certain organisms are then placed in
microbial cells placed into test tubes and then heated in a foods than either alone (Jay, 2012). a suitable growth medium. The suspensions or containers are
water bath are considerably more heat resistant than moist 5. Salts. The effect of salts on microbial activity was found incubated at a
cells of the same type. to be variable, depending upon the concentration, the Relative Heat Resistance of Microorganisms temperature suitable for growth of the specific organisms.
suspension medium and the organisms involved. Some salts In general, the heat resistance of microorganisms is related Death is defined as
Protein denaturation occurs at a faster rate when heated in have a protective effect on microorganisms, and others tend to their optimum growth temperature. Psychrophilic the inability of the organisms to form a visible colony.
water than in air. It has been pointed out that the heating of to make cells more heat sensitive.The only salt present in microorganisms are the most heat sensitive, followed by
wet proteins causes the formation of free –SH groups with a appreciable amounts in most foods is sodium chloride. At mesophiles and thermophiles. Spore forming bacteria are
consequent increase in the water-binding capacity of low concentrations, this salt presents a protective effect on more heat resistant than non-sporeformers. Thermophilic
proteins. The presence of water allows for thermal breaking some spores, particularly the salt-tolerant bacteria. On the spore formers are more heat resistant than mesophilic
of peptide bonds, a process that requires more energy in the other hand, Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ tend to increase water activity, sporeformers.
absence of water (Jay, 2012). thereby increasing sensitivity to heat.
Yeasts and molds are more sensitive to heat, with yeast
2. pH. Microorganisms are most resistant to heat at their 4. Sugars. The presence of sugars in the suspending ascospores being only slightly more resistant than
optimum pH growth, which is generally about 7.0. As the instrument causes an increase in the heat resistance of vegetative yeasts. Yeasts and their spores are killed by
pH is lowered or raised, there is a consequent increase in microorganisms suspended therein. This is in part due to the pasteurization treatments.
heat sensitivity. This phenomenon offers an advantage in the decrease in water activity. The protective effect of sugars When counts of surviving microorganisms are made at
heat processing of high acid foods, where considerably less varies with the organism: it is high for osmophilic The asexual spores of molds tend to be slightly more heat intervals during a heating test, the death rate curve is
heat is applied to achieve sterilization compared to foods at organisms and low for others; high for spores and low for resistant than mold mycelia. Many species of Aspergillus obtained.
or near neutrality. The heat process required in the canning non-osmophilic cells. and some of Penicillium and Mucor are more resistant to
of foods will increase with their pH and the most likely type heat than other molds. A very heat-resistant mold on fruits Basic Concepts Referring to Thermal Resistance of
of spoilage of the canned food will vary with the groupings 5. Proteins and Other Substances. Proteins in the heating is Byssochlamys fulva. Sclerotia are the most heat resistant Microorganisms
of food according to pH level. medium have a protective effect on microorganisms. High- of these types and sometimes survive and cause trouble in Bacterial destruction of heat exhibits a logarithmic order of
The effect of pH of the substrate is complicated by the fact protein-content foods must be heat processed to a greater canned fruits. death. The rate of thermal destruction is greater as the
that heating at high temperatures causes a decrease in the pH degree than low-protein-content foods. temperature increases. In order to determine the amount of
of low- or medium-acid foods and the higher the original pH, 6. Concentration of Spores. The greater the number of Thermal Death Time (TDT) The heat resistance of heating requirement for commercial sterility, these basic
the greater the drop in pH caused by heating. spores in a given food, the longer will be the heating time microorganisms is usually expressed in terms of their
concepts for measurement of heat resistance of represents a measure of the capacity of a heat process to In order to determine the z value, D values are plotted on
microorganisms must be understood. reduce the number of spores or vegetative cells of a given the log scale, and temperature is plotted along the linear The slowest heating point (SHP) is defined as the region
organism per container. axis. within a container of product which receives the lowest
D value or Decimal Reduction Time. refers to the death sterilization treatment during the heating and cooling
rate of an organism at a given temperature. It is defined as Thermal Death Time Curve The conditions that must be defined to make thermal death portions of a thermal process (Pflug, 1982).It is also known
the time in minutes at a specific temperature required to On semilog paper, survival and destruction times (in curve meaningful and applicable to food processing are: as the cold point or the slowest heating zone (SHZ)
destroy 90% of a given organism in a population. minutes) are plotted on the logarithmic scale against (a) The requirement for a greater heat treatment the larger ( Zechmann and Pflug 1989).
temperature on the linear. The straight line of best fit above the initial microbial population is inherent in the logarithmic Heat Transfer Mechanisms
Bacteria are killed by heat at a rate that is approximately all survival points and below as many destruction points as order by which bacteria die.
proportional to the number present in the system being possible is called the thermal death time curve. (b) The sensitivities of microorganisms to heat are markedly There are three modes of heat transfer, which contribute to
heated. When D values (death rates) are plotted on the logarithmic affected by the composition of the food in which it is the overall heat transfer process in differing proportions:
scale against temperature on the linear scale, the “phantom” suspended. Thermal death curves are specific for particular conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction is the
This is referred to as logarithmic order of death. This thermal death time curve is obtained. organism and food being processed. transfer of heat by molecular motion in solid bodies.
means that under constant thermal conditions, the same Convection is the transfer of heat by fluid flow, created by
percentage of the bacterial population will be destroyed at To illustrate the heat resistance parameters of 12-D Concept density differences and buoyancy effects, in fluid products.
given time interval, regardless of the size of the surviving microorganisms, the following data was obtained from the The 12D concept refers to thermal processing requirements Radiation is the transfer of electromagnetic energy between
population. In simpler terms, if a given temperature kills heating of flat sour spores at 240 ºF (107 ºC) in canned pea designed to reduce the probability of survival of the most two bodies at different temperatures. Thermally-processed
90% of the population in one minute, 90% of the remaining brine at pH 6.2 heat resistant Cl. botulinum spores to 10 -12 . If it is foods can be classified based on the methods of heat transfer:
population will be killed in the second minute, 90% of what assumed that each container of food contains only one spore A. Conduction heating packs. Solid foods heat by
is left will be killed in the third minute and so on. of Cl. botulinum, Fo may be calculated by use of the general conduction. The process is slow since there is no transfer of
survivor curve equation: the material from the hot to the cooler parts of the cans. The
The D value is numerically equal to the number of minutes Fo = Dr (log a – log b) rate at which the heat is conducted decreases as the
required for the survivor curve to transverse one log cycle. Fo = 0.21 (log 1 – log 10 -12 ) temperature difference between the retort and the center of
Mathematically, it is equal to the reciprocal of the slope of Fo = 0.21 X 12 = 2.52 the can becomes smaller.
the survivor curve and is a measure of the death rate of an Processing for 2.52 minutes at 250 ºF (121 ºC) should
organism. reduce the Cl. botulinum spores to one spore in 1 of 1 Conduction occurs when heat is transferred from one
billion containers. particle or substance to another right next to it. This is the
The time of heating in minutes is plotted on semi-log paper
A subscript denotes the temperature to which D relates; slowest type of heat transfer. All food is made of molecules
along the linear axis, and the number of survivors is plotted
D250 refers to the death rate at 250 ºF, while D212 refers to HEAT PENETRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOD that are always vibrating. The addition of heat to food makes
along the log scale to produce the TDT curve. The more rapidly a canned product can be heated to lethal
the death rate at 212 ºF. the molecules vibrate more rapidly, so adjacent molecules
temperatures, the faster the microbial contaminants will be strike against each other.
From the data presented, the D value is calculated to be 8 killed. It is important to know how quickly the contents of a
z value refers to the temperature change required for a
minutes or D240 = 8.0. D values may be used to reflect the container heat when held in the retort. It is also necessary to
specific thermal death time curve to pass through one log Molecules with greater energy lose some of their energy to
relative resistance of spores or vegetative cells to heat. The determine the location of the slowest heating point in each
cycle. This is constructed by plotting the log of D or some those with less. This action continues until the molecules far
most heat reistant strains of Cl. botulinum types A and B can, pouch or jar.
multiples of D in the ordinate against exposure temperature removed from the source of heat receive some of that
spores have Dr value of 0.21, whereas the most heat
in the abscissa. The z value is dependent upon the (a) transmitted energy through conduction. The food touching
resistant thermophilic Food technologists always base thermal process calculations
organism concerned and (b) the medium in which it is the sides of the container heats first.
spores have Dr values of around 4.0 to 5.0. on
suspended during heating and recovery.
the slowest heating point (SHP). When this reference point That heat is then transferred inward toward the colder food.
The approximate heat resistance of spores of thermophilic has been made commercially sterile, every other point in the
Mathematically, the z value is equal to the reciprocal of the The time it takes to heat an entire jar of food is dependent on
and container is believed to have received more heat than this
slope of the TDT curve. Whereas the D value reflects the its density, volume and water content. The larger the pieces
mesophilic spoilage microorganisms are presented below: area.
resistance of an organism to a specific temperature, the z of food or the thicker the puree, the slower the heat
value provides information on the relative resistance of an penetration.
organism to different destructive temperatures. The Slowest Heating Point
The location of the slowest heating point or cold spot in a For a conduction heating product in a cylindrical can with
F value refers to the number of minutes at a specific container is critical to establishing a process. When a can of minimal
temperature required to destroy a specific number of food is heated in a retort, temperature varies from point to headspace, the geometric center of the can is considered to
organisms having a specific z value. Thus, the F value is a point. When the cans are heated from outside, the portion of be the
measure of the capacity of a heat treatment to sterilize. can contents nearer to the container wall get heated first and slowest heating spot. Generally, if a larger headspace is
the central portions are heated later. Thus there will be a included, the cold spot may shift closer to the top of the can
The integrated lethal value of heat received by all points in a temperature gradient in the canned food at any time during due to the insulating effect of the headspace which may be
container during processing is designated Fo. This heat processing. significant if the height-to-diameter ratio of the can is
small.Solidly packed foods, such as meat, corned beef, meat example is a peach half in thin syrup. The syrup heats by positions. The cans are seamed and heat processed and used is Fo), the product inside a can does not immediately
loaf, fish and canned tuna-solid pack, and heavily matted convection while the peach heats by conduction.Sometimes the temperature is noted. reach processing temperature. There are also instances that
foods or very viscous liquid-solid, such as thick soups, this happens accidentally. For example, if pasta clumps the temperature at the slowest heating point of a container
creamed corn, meat in gravy and squash together to form large pieces, the heat transfer becomes A thermocouple should be placed among the cans to does not obtain the temperature of the heating medium. This
are heated by conduction. slower due to mixed conduction-convection heating. indicate the retort temperature. The retort and can inconsistency can be addressed by making use of a
temperature are recorded at the convenient intervals of time relationship which shows that the rate of change in the
Conduction heating is very slow compared to convection Heat Penetration Determination ranging from ½ to 1 min for normal products and at 2-5 thermal destruction of bacteria (i.e. the rate of change in
heating. The rate of heat penetration and the distribution of heat mins for slow heating products. their D values) is logarithmic around temperatures
inside the can are important aspects of thermal processing. commonly used in heat sterilization. This means that the
B. Convection heating packs. Heat is transferred by These aspects are based on the physical characteristics of Temperature and time data are collected as soon as the lethal rate of destruction at any temperature can be related to
convection currents caused by a change in density as the the food and the container. steam valve of retort is opened and till the completion of that at a reference temperature.
fluid heats. Any dissolved substances that increase the process which includes heating and cooling time.
viscosity will reduce this effect and decrease heat transfer. Food in the can passes through different temperatures at The relationship between the lethal rate and the heating
Hence, heat transfer through liquids is faster than in solids. different times of heating and cooling processes. It is Before steam is turned on, the initial temperature of each temperature is illustrated in a thermal death time curve
necessary to know how long the can has remained at each container should be recorded. The data obtained are passing through 1 min at 121.1 ºC (Figure 1). This
Convection heating occurs in thin liquids and in gases like temperature levels in order to determine the level of plotted on a linear graph with temperature on vertical "phantom" curve shows that relative to the lethal rate of
air and steam. As molecules are heated, they become lighter sterilization the canned product has received. A complete axis and time on the horizontal axis.Use of Heat unity at 121.1°C the lethal rates at 91.1, 101.1, 111.1, 131.1,
and rise to the top of the jar, displacing cooler ones toward picture of heating and cooling pattern is necessary for Penetration Data. The obtained from heating rate tests 141.1 and 151.1 ºC are 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 10, 100 and 1 000,
the bottom. Convection heating occurs best in liquids like assessing the thermal process. show how fast, or how slow the product is being heated. To respectively.
fruit and vegetable juices or broths, thin soups and solids in use this data in pocess calculation, the data are plotted on
brine or syrup. These heat rapidly and thus have shorter A heat penetration study is conducted to determine the semi-logarithmic paper. Time is represented on the linear The sterilizing effect of a thermal process can be computed
processing times. A tightly packed jar takes longer to heat heating and cooling behavior of a product (contained in a scale and the temperature on the logarithmic scale. by integrating the combined lethal effect of exposure at all
than a loosely packed one which allows some convection package). This is necessary for the establishment of safe time/temperature combinations throughout the process.
heating. Thus it is important not to over-pack jars as this will thermal processes and evaluating process deviations. A heating curve is a plot or graph wherein a substance is
decrease the rate of heat penetration subjected to increasing temperature against time to measure
Equipment Used. The rate at which a can of food heats is the amount of energy it absorbs and changes state with
C. Broken heating curve packs. Some foods exhibit a usually measured using a copper-constantan increasing temperature.
broken heating curve. This refers to a distinct change or thermocouple which converts the heat sensed by the
break in the rate of heat penetration, an initial period of thermocouple into electrical impulses. The impulses are PROCESS CALCULATIONS
relatively rapid heat transfer ceasing more or less abruptly transmitted to an instrument which converts them to ºC or The term “process’, as applied to food canning, involves the
and being followed by a period of much slower heat ºF. The non-projecting or “lug-in” couples are commonly application of heat to food in hermitically sealed containers
penetration. used because they can be mounted in the can before it is for a definite time at a specific temperature under distinct
filled with food. The can may also be sealed using conditions. Thermal processing aims to achieve
The “break” may be due to the product undergoing a sol-gel commercial equipment with the thermocouple in place. “commercial sterility” in the product, with least possible
transition. In the first stage of heating, convection is the ` adverse effect in sensory and nutritional quality.
main factor involved in heat transfer. After which, heating The couples are placed into the can through a hole made
continue by conduction because of the transition of the with a counter-sink punch, and are held in place by means Commercial sterility refers to a condition in which food is Determination of Lethality of a Heat Process
product to a gel form. of a threaded receptacle entering the hole from the outside rendered free of viable microorganisms (including spores) The determination of the severity of a heat process for a
and secured by a lock-nut and gasket on the inside of the of public health significance and microorganisms capable of canned food may be achieved using calculations based on
Examples of products in this type of heat transfer are thick can. reproducing in the food during manufacture and under heat penetration and thermal death time data.
soups, normal non-refrigerated conditions of storage and
brine-packed whole grain corn and tomato juice. Small Heat Penetration Procedures. distribution (Codex Alimentarius Commission (WHO/ FAO) A. The Graphical Method or General Method
quantities of starch either added or leached from vegetables In determining how fast or how slow a food will heat, CAC/RCP 0). The general method is useful for determining the exact
slow down the convection and increases processing time. several cans of the product to be tested are equipped with lethality of a process, when such conditions as come-up time
Jars of liquid containing pieces of green beans or peas would thermocouples and placed in a retort. The retort should be The lethality of a process is defined as the reduction of a (which is the time required in order for the retort
heat more slowly than apple juice because the pieces would operated in a manner as closely similar to that of target pathogen during heating to a level, ideally zero that temperature to reach the highest value), cooling water
interfere with convection. commercial practice. renders a product safe for consumption at any point during temperature, or the holding time after processing but before
its shelf life. water cooling are different from normal retorting procedures.
D. Mixed conduction-convection heating packs. Some First the cold spot in the can is determined. Then the
types of food heat by a combination of conduction and cans are filled with required quantity of food (as packed Lethality of Heat during Heating and Cooling This method is also modified when the heat penetration
convection. This occurs in products with a high solid-to- in normal processing) with thermocouple tips at different Although the sterilizing effect of a process is expressed in curve cannot be represented by one or two straight lines
liquid ratio or large pieces of solid food in thin liquor. One standard units of minutes at 121.1 ºC or 250 ºF (the symbol
within the lethal temperature range on semi-logarithmic value for the process is found without the need for graphical Table 2. Values of L for temperature ranging from 90 ºC to
paper. representation of the heating and cooling curves. 130.9 ºC in 0.1 ºC intervals

The Improved General Method The Fo value for the process is calculated by summing all
In this method, a plot of temperature versus time is made on the L values and multiplying this value by the standard time
specially constructed lethal rate paper which has on its left- interval between readings.
hand vertical axis product temperature (on a log scale) while
on the other vertical axis is drawn lethal rate (on a linear To calculate Fo for the process: Summing the L values
scale). gives 2.925 which when multiplied by 5 (the time interval
between readings) gives an Fo value of 14.6 min.
Time is plotted along the horizontal axis, using a convenient
scale. The area under the graph, which represents the To calculate Fo for the heating phase: The sum of L values
product of exposure time at all lethal rates throughout at time 25 and 60 min (0 and 0.776) is divided by 2 and this
theprocess, is then divided by the area equivalent to that of value (0.388) is added to the sum of L values from time 30
an Fo value of unity. This yields the total sterilising effect, to 55 min.
or the
This gives 1.730 which when multiplied by 5 yields on Fo
Fo value, for the process. Figure 3 presents a hypothetical of 8.6 min for the process lethality at the stage when the
heat penetration curve for a semi-solid product processed for steam was turned off.
4 :ºC.

The temperature profile shows the slowest heating point. By

counting squares or using a planimeter, the area under the
graph is found to be 71 cm², while the area corresponding to
one unit of lethality (Fo = 1) is 4 cm². Therefore the total
process lethality can be calculated as follows:

The total sterilizing effect of the process is equivalent to

17.5 minutes at 121.1 ºC, assuming immediate heating and
cooling occurred in the can.

The improved general method considers the entire heating

and cooling effects including any changes in heat
penetration rates caused by product gelation or liquefaction.
In this method, the Fo calculation is simple because the
thermal characteristics of the product are not needed.
However, this approach limits the versatility of the
technique.

Mathematical Methods

The Trapezoidal Integration Method

This is a mathematical method in which the time-
temperature data are used to measure changes in lethality
during heating and cooling. By using standard time intervals
the lethal value is computed in stages and the cumulative L