Modeling the Enhanced Thermal Inactivation of Cronobacter sakazakii by Inclusion of “Parabens”

The goal of this study is to develop mathematical models that describe the enhanced thermal inactivation of Cronobacter sakazakii by the inclusion of “parabens”. The key parameters include heating temperature, parabens concentration, and the length of parabens’ alkyl side chains. The heating trials were conducted in a submerged coil apparatus using Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) as the model heating menstruum. The results clearly demonstrated that a significant enhancement of thermal inactivation is concentration dependent and increases with increasing alkyl chain length. Once data sets are complete, primary and secondary models will be developed for prediction of thermal inactivation parameters.