Investigation of the Growth of Listeria in Plant-Based Beverages

Authors

Klaudia Bartula, Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Bishopstown, Cork, IrelandFollow
Sambou Biagui, Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Bishopstown, Cork, IrelandFollow
Máire Begley, Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Bishopstown, Cork, IrelandFollow
Michael Callanan, Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Bishopstown, Cork, IrelandFollow

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Biology | Food Science | Life Sciences

Publication Details

Food Microbiology, vol 121. © 2024 The Authors.

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether the content of sugar, protein, fat, or fibre in commercially available and specially formulated plant-based beverages (oat, soya and pea) influences the growth rates of Listeria. Beverages were inoculated with a strain cocktail of Listeria (approximately 1 × 103 CFU/mL), and the data demonstrated that Listeria could proliferate in all tested beverages. Moreover, varying concentrations of naturally occurring or added sugar (0–3.3%), protein (3.3–5%), fat (1.1–3.5%) and added fibre (0–1.5%) did not have a statistically significant (p > 0.05) impact on the growth rates of Listeria in the tested plant-based beverages. These data suggest that the wide variety of commercial plant-based beverages serve as an ideal medium for the growth of Listeria irrespective of product composition. All the various products tested provided sufficient nutrients to support at least a 2.6-log increase of Listeria within 16 h at room temperature, with some beverages supporting a 3-log increase. Therefore, these data highlight the importance of careful storage and handling of these increasingly varied and popular products.

Recommended Citation

Klaudia Bartula, Sambou Biagui, Máire Begley, Michael Callanan, Investigation of the growth of Listeria in plant-based beverages, Food Microbiology, Volume 121, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2024.104530.