Journal of Food & Industrial Microbiology

Evaluating the effects of temperature and agitation on biofilm formation of bacterial pathogens isolated from raw cow milk

Abstract

Meshari Alabdullatif

Raw Cow Milk (RCM) consumption is increasing despite the associated foodborne infection risks. In this study, consumer handling practices during transportation were simulated to investigate the impact of agitation and temperature on biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria isolated from RCM. A total of 40 RCM samples were collected from eight dairy farms in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After bacterial culturing and isolation, gram staining was performed, and all pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria were identified using VITEK-2 and biochemical assays. To evaluate the effects of temperature and agitation on biofilm formation, isolated pathogenic bacteria were incubated for 24 h under the following conditions: 4 ? with no agitation (0 rpm), 15 ? with no agitation, 30 ? with no agitation, 30 ? with 60 rpm agitation, and 30 ? with 120 rpm agitation. Most of the isolated pathogenic bacteria exhibited a significant (p<0.01) increase in biofilm formation when grown at 30 ? compared to 4 ? and when grown with 120 rpm agitation compared to 0 rpm. This study highlights that consumer transport and storage practices (temperature and agitation) can have significant effects on the proliferation of pathogens in RCM.