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. 1987 Sep;53(9):2165–2170. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.9.2165-2170.1987

Antimicrobial activity of lysozyme against bacteria involved in food spoilage and food-borne disease.

V L Hughey 1, E A Johnson 1
PMCID: PMC204075  PMID: 3118808

Abstract

Egg white lysozyme was demonstrated to have antibacterial activity against organisms of concern in food safety, including Listeria monocytogenes and certain strains of Clostridium botulinum. We also found that the food spoilage thermophile Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum was highly susceptible to lysozyme and confirmed that the spoilage organisms Bacillus stearothermophilus and Clostridium tyrobutyricum were also extremely sensitive. Several gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens isolated from food poisoning outbreaks, including Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, and Yersinia enterocolitica, were all resistant. The results of this study suggest that lysozyme may have selected applications in food preservation, especially when thermophilic sporeformers are problems, and as a safeguard against food poisoning caused by C. botulinum and L. monocytogenes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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