Analysis of the Responses to Pasteurization Temperatures of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Derived from Milk Items

Background and Aim: One of the leading causes of both community- and hospital-acquired infections is the superbug," multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Milk and dairy products seem to be highly vulnerable to a wide range of diseases. Therefore, we require processing procedures that both eliminate pathogens and lengthen the useful life of these products. The purpose of this study was to determine how susceptible MRSA isolates were to pasteurization temperatures after being recovered from dairy products.

Materials and Methods: For the purpose of pasteurization, ten MRSA isolates were exposed to both a 63°C LTLT (low temperature, long time) therapy for 30 minutes and a 72°C HTST (high temperature, short time) treatment for 16 seconds.

Results: The findings indicated that all isolates were killed by a pasteurization-like treatment at low temperature for a long time (63°C for 30 minutes), but that particular adaptable isolates could survive a pasteurization-like treatment at high temperature for a short time (72°C for 16 seconds), which may point to a time- and temperature-dependent variation in the thermal tolerance mechanism.

Conclusion: The results showed that all isolates seemed extremely susceptible to damage from heat using LTLT pasteurization-like treatment (63°C for 30 minutes). Nevertheless, a particular number of these isolates succeeded in establishing colonies because they have quorum sensing structures that survive being handled by using heat damage at 72°C for 16 seconds. Pasteurized milk producers should be alerted to the fact that this microorganism has been found in contaminated milk since it compromises the product's safety and diminishes its value to consumers. As a result, it is strongly advised that manufacturers utilize varied temperatures for milk processing in order to remove the contaminating methicillin- and heat-resistant S. aureus (MHRSA).