Inhibitory effects of sucrose palmitic acid ester on the germination-to-outgrowth process of Clostridium perfringens SM101 spores.

As a commercially available esterified compound derived from sucrose and palmitoyl acids, sucrose ester palmitic acid (SEPA) has been used as an emulsifier in food processing. It possesses antibacterial activity against vegetative and spore-forming bacteria, including Clostridium, Moorella, Bacillus, and Geobacillus species, prompting the food industry to use it as a food additive to achieve a desirable shelf life; however, the precise mechanism by which the compound affects the physiological processes of bacteria and how it inhibits bacterial growth remains unclear. In this study, we focused on the inhibitory effect of SEPA on the germination-to-outgrowth process of Clostridium perfringens SM101 spores, a strain widely used as a model of C.