Antimicrobial effect of insect chitosan on Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes survival

PLoS One. 2020 Dec 22;15(12):e0244153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244153. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The antimicrobial capability of chitosan from Tenebrio molitor as compared with chitosan from crustacean (Penaeus monodon) on different pathogenic microorganisms of concern in food safety was studied. The antimicrobial effect was tested at pH 5 and pH 6.2 and at two different initial concentrations (103 or 106 CFU/mL). Results indicated that chitosan from both sources have antimicrobial activity, although the effect depended on the microorganism considered (Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7). Our results indicated that Salmonella was the most resistant bacteria, and that chitosan from insect was less active than chitosan from crustacean, especially against Salmonella. Another important factor on antimicrobial activity was the pH of the sample. When chitosan was added to a solution with a pH of 6.2 it was more active against Listeria and Escherichia coli, than at pH 5.00. Besides, the effect of chitosan appears to decrease with the incubation time, since some increases in counts were observed on E. coli and Salmonella after the 24 and 49 hours of incubation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / toxicity*
  • Chitosan / analogs & derivatives
  • Chitosan / toxicity*
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Listeria monocytogenes / drug effects
  • Salmonella typhimurium / drug effects
  • Tenebrio / chemistry*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Chitosan

Grants and funding

The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science for funding through project AGL2017-86840-C2-2-R, and to FEDER funds from EU. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.