Adhesion of meat spoilage bacteria to fat and tendon slices and to glass

Abstract

The adhesion of seven meat spoilage bacteria to thin slices of beef fat and tendon and to glass was studied using cells in late log or stationary phase of growth, suspended in spent growth medium or in deionized water. In general, adhesion was not influenced by the physiological age of the cells but was greatly influenced by the composition of the adhesion medium, in particular its sodium content. Irrespective of the surface or the adhesion medium, no correlation was found between adhesion of the various organisms and their hydro‐phobicity (contact angle) and/or surface charge (electrophoretic mobility). Changes in the free energy of adhesion (?Fadh) were subsequently calculated from contact angles and surface tensions measurements. There was little agreement between the extents of adhesion observed experimentally and those predicted from the ?Fadh values, indicating that the thermodynamic model of adhesion was not appropriate to describe adequately bacterial adhesion to meat slices or to glass, under the experimental conditions selected.