Growth and Volatile Compounds of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Irradiated Pork

The growth kinetics and volatile compounds of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on irradiated, cubed raw pork were investigated in this study. The results showed that the Gompertz model fitted the growth data of E. coli O157:H7 on pork with high R2 value, and the growth kinetic parameters exhibited respective features at different temperature and inoculum levels. For the volatile metabolites production of E. coli O157:H7, distinct variations occurred after the middle logarithmic phase of bacterial growth. Indole showed a rapid and obvious increase at the onset of the static phase; 2‐heptanone, 2‐nonanone and 2‐tridecanone followed the trend of bacterial growth with lag, logarithmic and static phases; the signal intensities of 1‐hexanol and 1‐octanol increased at the logarithmic phase and decreased at the static phase. Practical Applications The relationship between growth and volatile production of E. coli O157:H7 on raw pork would provide some fundamental scientific data for the emerging odor inspection technique.