Hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction chromatography for estimating changes in cell surface charge of Escherichia coli cells treated with pulsed electric fields.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments, a nonthermal process, have been reported to injure and inactivate bacteria in liquid foods. However, the effect of this treatment on bacterial cell surface charge and hydrophobicity has not been investigated. Apple juice (pH 3.8) purchased from a wholesale distributor was inoculated with cocktail of Escherichia coli O157:H7 at 7.4 log CFU/mL, processed with a PEF at a field strength of 18.4 kV/cm and 32.2 kV/cm at 25°C, 35°C, and 45°C with a treatment time of 160 μs and a flow rate of 120 mL/min. Bacterial cell surface charge and hydrophobicity of untreated and PEF-treated E. coli O157:H7 were determined immediately and after storage at 5°C and 23°C using hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction chromatography. Similarly, the populations surviving the PEF treatments including injured cells were determined by plating 0.1 mL of the sample on sorbitol MacConkey agar and tryptic soy agar (TSA) plates. The surviving populations of E. coli cells after PEF treatment varied depending on field strength and treatment temperature used. Percent injury in the surviving populations was high immediately after PEF treatment and varied among treatment temperatures. Cell surface charge of E. coli bacteria before PEF treatment averaged 32.10±8.12. PEF treatments at 25°C, 35°C, and 45°C reduced the above surface charge to 26.34±1.24, 14.24±3.30, and 6.72±2.82, respectively. Similarly, the surface hydrophobicity of untreated E. coli cells at 0.194±0.034 was increased to an average of 0.268±0.022, 0.320±0.124, and 0.586±0.123 after PEF treatments at 25°C, 35°C, and 45°C, respectively. The results of this study indicate that PEF treatment affects the outer cell envelope of E. coli bacteria as evidenced by the changes in surface hydrophobicity and cell surface charge leading to injury and subsequent inactivation of the cells.