Thermal resistance of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores in different heating media

Summary The aim of this work was to study the influence of temperature (85, 90, 95 and 100 °C), total soluble solids (SS: 10 and 20°Brix or % by weight of sucrose) and pH (3.5 and 4.0) on decimal reduction time (D‐value) of the Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris strain DSM2498 spores in apple juice, orange juice and malt extract broth (MEB). The effects of SS and pH on D‐values and z‐values in each media were insignificant (P > 0.05). In apple juice, orange juice and MEB, z‐values of A. acidoterrestris for pH 3.5 and pH 4.0 were 12.2 ± 1.3–14.2 ± 3.2 °C, 11.2 ± 0.3–9.4 ± 0.0 °C and 11.9 ± 0.8–10.3 ± 0.4 °C, respectively. z‐values of apple juice, orange juice and MEB samples with SS = 10°Brix and SS = 20°Brix were 14.1 ± 3.2–12.2 ± 1.3 °C, 10.2 ± 0.7–10.5 ± 1.1 °C and 11.3 ± 1.5–10.9 ± 0.2 °C, respectively. However, D‐values of all samples were affected by temperature significantly (P < 0.01). Average D‐values of apple juice, orange juice and MEB were 101.2 ± 14.7, 34.4 ± 7.9, 20.3 ± 4.9 and 4.3 ± 1.3 min for 85, 90, 95 and 100 °C. This study demonstrated that A. acidoterrestris spores exhibited high resistance to thermal processing applications. pH and SS of the media did not affect thermal resistance.