1

ASSIGNMENT
on
Factors affecting growth of microorganisms

SUBMITTED BY: Tanmoy Pramanik

Trainee
Batch: A2
INSTITUTE: National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship &
Management

SUBMITTED TO: Vijay Kumar.

MICROBIOLOGY LAB
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INDEX

Introduction 3
Factors affecting microbial growth 4
Intrinsic factors 5
Extrinsic factors 9
Implicit factors 11
References 15
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INTRODUCTION
NUTRIENTS GROWTH
FOOD

MICROORGANISMS

SPOILAGE DISEASE BENEFICIAL

CAUSING CAUSING

 SPOILAGE CAUSING
• Deterioration of the food.
• Increasing microbial no.s, utilizing nutrients
• producing enzymatic changes,
• contributing off-flavors by breakdown of product or synthesis
of new compounds, they spoil food
 DISEASE
• Presence of m/os, their growth or their products cause health
problems/ disease.
• Imp to prevent entrance and growth of m/o in food or
eliminate them by processing.
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• BENEFICIAL
• Interactions between m/o’s and food are sometimes
beneficial (egs)-cultured products consumed and enjoyed

Factors affecting Microbial Growth

• Intrinsic Parameters (inside the food) Factors inherent to the
food. They are chemical and physical characteristics of food.
• pH
• Moisture
• Oxidation-Reduction Potential Inside Food
• Nutrient Content
• Natural Antimicrobial Constituents
• Biological Structures & Natural Microflora
• Extrinsic Parameters(environment around the food) Storage
conditions of the food i.e. properties of the environment in
which the food is stored
• Temperature
• Relative Humidity
• Presence of Gases or Oxygen
• Antimicrobials or Added Microorganisms

• Microorganism Growth in Foods

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INTRINSIC FACTORS

pH
• Microorganisms sensitive to changes in acidity because
H+ and OH- interfere with H bonding in proteins and
nucleic acids.
• Microbes have no mechanism for adjusting their internal
pH.
• Therefore, pH of food significantly affects the microbial
growth on it.
• Most bacteria grow best in a narrow range around
neutral pH (6.5-7.5) – these organisms are called
neutrophiles
• Other bacteria and fungi are acidophiles – grow best in
acidic habitats
Lactic acid bacteria (pH 3.3 – 7.2) and acetic acid
bacteria (pH 2.8 – 4.3).
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Acidic waste products can help preserve foods by

preventing further microbial growth
• Alkalinophiles live in alkaline soils and water up to pH
11.5
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus (pH 4.8- 11.0) and Enterococcus
spp (pH 4.8- 10.6).

 Water activity (aw)

 Water activity is a measure of the water available
for microorganisms to grow or reactions to take place
i.e. measure of the amount of water disposable for the
microorganisms.
 It is a ratio of water vapour pressure of the food
substance to the vapour pressure of pure water at the
same temperature.
 Water activity is expressed as:
 Water activity (aw) = P/ Pw where P= water vapour
pressure of the food substance and Pw= water vapour
pressure of pure water (Pw = 1.00).
The growth of microorganisms is limited due to
minimum water activity values

Microoganisms Minimum water activ

Gram +ve bacteria 0.95

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Gram –ve bacteria 0.91

Yeasts 0.88

Molds 0.80
• No growth of any microbe below aw = 0.60
• Exceptions are : Halophilic bacteria (min. aw = 0.75 e.g.
Halobacter spp), Xerophilic molds (min. aw = 0.60 e.g.
Xeromyces bisporus) and Osmophilic yeasts (min. aw =
0.60 e.g. Zygosaccharomyces rouxii).
• The water activity of a food ranges from 0.00 – 1.00
• Water activity of a completely dehydrated food is 0.00
• Technologies to control water activity in foods are:
 Drying
 Addition of salts, sugars and glycols
 Concentrate

 Oxidation- Reduction potential (O/R or Eh)

• This is the ratio of the total oxidizing (electron
accepting) power to the total reducing (electron
donating) power of a substance.
• Eh is a measurement of the ease by which a substance
gains or losses electrons.
• Eh is measured in millivolts (mV)
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• The more oxidized substances, the higher the Eh; the

more reduced substances, the lower the Eh.
• Microorganisms that grow at:
 high Eh or +ve Eh (require oxygen) – Aerobes
 low Eh or –ve Eh (oxygen is toxic)- Anaerobes
 high and low Eh (+ve /-ve Eh) – Facultative anaerobes
 relative low Eh values – Micro-aerophilic
The major groups of microorganisms based on their
relationship to Eh for growth are
• Aerobes. (Aeromonas hydrophila)
• Anaerobes (Clostridium botulinum)
• Facultative aerobes (Escherichia coli O157:H7)
• Microaerophiles (Campylobacter jejuni)
 Nutrient content
• Microorganisms require
a. Energy source such as carbohydrates, amino acids,
proteins, organic acids and alcohol.
b. Nitrogen source such as amino acids, peptides,
nucleotides, urea, proteins and ammonia.
c. Carbon source
d. Minerals such as phosphorus, iron, manganese,
magnesium, calcium and potassium.
e. Vitamins and other growth factors
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 Presence of antimicrobials
• Natural constituents of foods which affect microbial
growth are:
 Lysozyme e.g. Eggs
 Lactoferrin e.g. Milk
 Lactoperoxidase e.g. Cow’s milk
 Conglutinin e.g. Cow’s milk
 Essential oils e.g. Spices and vegetables
• Preservatives such as benzoic acid, sorbic acid and nisin
 Biological structures
• Natural physical barriers of foods are:
 Cell walls e.g. Fruits and vegetables
 Shells e.g. Eggs
 Skin e.g. Fish

EXTRINSIC FACTORS
• Temperature
– lower temperatures retard microbial growth
• Relative humidity
– higher levels promote microbial growth
• Atmosphere (presence and concentration of gases)
– oxygen promotes growth
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– modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)

• use of shrink wrap and vacuum technologies
to package food in controlled atmospheres

Temperature Requirements
• M/o’s grow over wide range of temp.
• Every microorganisms has an optimum (most favorable)
temperature range
• Microorganisms grouped to indicate their relationships
to temperature
Temperature of Growth Classification
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Classification Growth range Optimum temp

Psychrotroph 0ºC to 20ºC 14ºC to 20ºC
Mesophiles 20ºC to 45ºC 30ºC to 37ºC
Thermophiles 50ºC and above 50ºC to 66ºC

Implicit Factors
Implicit factors are the result of mututal interactions in
mixed microbial populations.
• Competition
– Nutrient Depletion
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– Change in Intrinsic factors

– Production of antimicrobial substances
• Growth Stimulation
– Metabolites
– Changes in pH
– Change in Eh or aw
– Hydrolysis
– Inhibitors
– Symbiosis
• Succession-Associations
COMPETITION:
a)Nutrient Depletion-
 M/o’s of high metabolic activity consume certain
nutrients quickly and lead to inhibition or stimulation of
other m/o’s.
 Example: Rapid growth of aerobic m/o’s (eg. Staph.
aureus in meat) lead to O2 depletion and CO2
acculmulation
 Causes Inhibition of aerobes and Accelerated growth of
anaerobes.
b) Change of intrinsic factors:
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 A change of specific internal factors (eg. Salt, sugar etc)

may stimulate or inhibit microbial growth.
 Example: Addition of 3.5% NaCl causes a decrease in aw
Saprophytes are inhibited and growth rate of Staph
aureus increases
c) Production of antimicrobial substances:
 Lactic acid bacteria and Acetic acid bacteria produce H+
ions and organic acids. Because of this the pH decreases
and some m/o’s are inhibited.
Also, some organic acids have innate antimicrobial
activity:
 CO2 depletes O2 and lowers the pH by formation of
carbonic acid in liquid phase of food-inhibitory
effect.
 Peroxides formed by microbial degradation of Fats
and Carbohydrates (by some bacteria)-
antimicrobial activity.
 Antibiotic/Bactreiocins produced by growth of few
m/o’s in food, inhibit the growth of other m/o’s.
(example: Nisin produced by Streptococcus lactis is
active against Gram-negative bacteria).
GROWTH STIMULATION:
a) Metabolites:
 Yeasts produce vitamin B that stimulates growth of
Lactic acid bacteria.
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 Hydrolysis of Starch by Molds results in mono- and

disaccharides that favor growth of Yeasts.
b)pH Changes:
 Lactic acid bacteria reduces the pH of food product
 Causes surface growth of molds. This raises the pH again
 Stimulates growth of other spoilage bacteria
c)Inhibitors:
 Microbially formed inhibitors can be broken down again
by m/o’ s, thereby making them lose their inhibitory
effect.
 Example: H2Os breakdown by catalase positive
bacteria.
d)Symbiosis:
 Symbiotic associations between two species of bacteria
where growth is not possible unless both species are
present.
 Example:
Yoghurt: Lactobacillus bulgaricus in yoghurt
produces valine, histidine and glycine which are
indispensible for growth of Streptococci thermophilus.
The latter produces formate which is an important
growth factor for Lactobacillus bulgaricus.
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REFERENCES
 Food Microbiology, TMH, New Delhi by W C Frazier & D
C Westhoff
 Modern Food Microbiology, CBS Publication, New Delhi
by J M Jay
 Microbiology,5th Ed., TMH, New Delhi by M J Pelczar, E C
S Chan and Noel R Krieg15
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