In beverages, especially fruit juices, Alicyclobacillus is a common spoilage organism that produces flavor notes such as an aseptic taste and odor. Alicyclobacillus prefers a warm, acidic environment and occurs preferably in acidic beverages such as orange or apple juices and their concentrates.
The most dangerous representative of the genus is Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris, but other species of the genus also produce similar damage patterns. The spoilage micro-organisim is often introduced through the raw material, such as contaminated fruits or fruits contaminated by soil, through contaminated fruit concentrates or sugar syrup. Contamination with Alicyclobacillus can occur directly through living bacteria or through their spores, the very resistant dormant stages of Alicyclobacillus.
In particular, the spores of Alicyclobacillus are very problematic due to their resistance to high temperatures, as they are not killed by regular pasteurization. Effective thermal deactivation of the spores requires temperatures that are not conducive to most juice and beverage products and their raw materials. For this reason, it is important to know whether there is contamination with Alicyclobacillus and its spores or not.
Classic detection methods require the germination of the spores and the subsequent multi-day culture of Alicyclobacillus. Thus, an assessment of raw materials and intermediate products and a final product release of the end products, taking these results into account, can only take place after days. For this reason, tested products may be stored for a long time before delivery, which incurs additional logistics and storage costs. Alternatively, the end products can be delivered without this result. However in this case, it might be potentially necessary to recall the product due to a detected contamination with Alicyclobazilllus spores. Both options generate costs and potential reputation damage. If the products have reached the end customer in the meantime, the damage to reputation and the expenses associated with a public recall are greater.
The analysis of beverages such as juices or soft drinks and their pre-products using the FlowVIT® Alicyclobacillus from vermicon AG in combination with an industrial flow cytometer (Flow Cytometer) from Sysmex Partec GmbH ensures fast and reliable quality control in all stages of the production of fruit juices, mixed drinks and fruit juice concentrates. Flow VIT® Alicyclobacillus detects all bacteria of the genus Alicyclobacillus and, in parallel, Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris including their spores in a sample clearly and highly specifically. The methodology is based on highly specific gene probes that uniquely label the target cells by means of in-situ hybridization and their detection with a flow cytometer.
The analysis is quick and easy to perform, and the evaluation is carried out automatically using the VIT®-adapted RI-300 flow cytometer. The results of the evaluation are available after only a few minutes.
Product deliveries without consideration of a possible contamination with Alicyclobacillus and its spores are thus a thing of the past and can be safely avoided. This protects the company reputation and reduces expenses due to recall actions or reduces storage costs for a longer intermediate storage.
Flow VIT® Alicyclobacillus is the ideal solution for quick, cost-effective and safe determination the presence of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris and other species of the genus in juices and other non-alcoholic beverages. In combination with a Sysmex Partec flow cytometer for industrial applications such as the RI-300, both end products and intermediate products or raw materials can be carried out as end product, in-process and raw material controls.
In addition to the contamination with Alicyclobacillus and its spores, other spoilage micro-organisms such as Brettanomyces anomala and Brettanomyces bruxellensis can also be investigated on the same device using the same Flow VIT® technology. With the help of further detection reagents from Sysmex Partec GmbH, the total microbiology load in beverage products and in production and process waters can also be determined, as well as a mycotoxicological analysis. Thus, Sysmex Partec offers a versatile solution for your various questions within product, process and quality control in the beverage industry.
Microbiological contamination can lead to a health risk or ineffective process flows – but classic tests often take days.
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