Influence of Temperature, Glucose, and Iron on Sinigrin Degradation by Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes

Factors, including pH, temperature, glucose concentration, and iron compounds, affect the activity of plant myrosinase and, consequently, endogenous glucosinolate degradation. These factors also may affect glucosinolate degradation by bacterial myrosinase. Therefore, this study examined the effect of temperature (4 to 21°C), glucose (0.05 to 1.0%), and iron (10 mM ferrous or ferric) on sinigrin degradation by Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes cocktails in Mueller-Hinton broth and the effect of sinigrin degradation on bacterial viability. The degradation of sinigrin by both pathogens increased with higher temperatures (21 > 10 > 4°C). Salmonella and L. monocytogenes cocktails hydrolyzed 59.1 and 53.2% of sinigrin, respectively, at 21°C up to 21 days. Both iron compounds significantly enhanced sinigrin degradation by the pathogens. On day 7, sinigrin was not detected when the Salmonella cocktail was cultured with ferrous iron or when the L. monocytogenes cocktail was cultured in Mueller-Hinton broth containing ferric iron. In contrast, ferric and ferrous iron inhibited the activity of 0.002 U/ml myrosinase from white mustard by 63 and 35%, respectively, on day 1. Salmonella and L. monocytogenes cocktails were able to degrade >80% of sinigrin at 0.05 and 0.1% glucose; however, 0.25 to 1.0% glucose significantly reduced sinigrin degradation. Although both pathogens significantly degraded sinigrin, the allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) recoverable was ≤6.2 ppm, which is not inhibitory to Salmonella or L. monocytogenes. It is probable that the gradual hydrolysis of sinigrin to form AITC either did not produce an inhibitory level of AITC or the AITC formed was unstable in the aqueous medium and rapidly decomposed to new compounds that were less bactericidal against the pathogens.