Dry heat inactivation of Bacillus cereus in rice

Abstract

The aim of this work was to validate the method of decontamination of rice at the temperature of 120°C (determined as optimal in previous experiments). Bacillus cereus was selected as the marker micro-organism for the monitoring of decontamination. The spores of Bacillus cereus are moderately heat resistant. In order to show the efficacy of our decontamination process, we artificially contaminated the rice under study with B. cereus. Decontamination was carried out in a homogenising steriliser about 20 h after contamination. The sample was first heated to 90°C and held at this temperature for 70 minutes. Then the temperature was increased to 120°C and held for 3 hours. Five samples were taken for microbiological analyses as follows: before the experiment, on reaching 120°C, and then after 1, 2, and 3 h of decontamination. Decontamination of rice from vegetative forms and spores of B. cereus present at the level of 400 CFU/ml was effected by heating to 120°C and holding for 1 hour.