Zhao X, Zhong J, Wei C, Lin CW, Ding T, et al.
Frontiers in microbiology. Date of publication 2017 Apr 4;volume 8():580.
1. Front Microbiol. 2017 Apr 4;8:580. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00580. eCollection
2017.
Current Perspectives on Viable but Non-culturable State in Foodborne Pathogens.
Zhao X(1), Zhong J(1), Wei C(1), Lin CW(2), Ding T(3).
Author information:
(1)Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, Key
Laboratory for Hubei Novel Reactor and Green Chemical Technology, School of
Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of TechnologyWuhan, China.
(2)Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan UniversityTaipei, Taiwan.
(3)Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for
Agro-Food Processing, Zhejiang UniversityHangzhou, China.
The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, a unique state in which a number of
bacteria respond to adverse circumstances, was first discovered in 1982.
Unfortunately, it has been reported that many foodborne pathogens can be induced
to enter the VBNC state by the limiting environmental conditions during food
processing and preservation, such as extreme temperatures, drying, irradiation,
pulsed electric field, and high pressure stress, as well as the addition of
preservatives and disinfectants. After entering the VBNC state, foodborne
pathogens will introduce a serious crisis to food safety and public health
because they cannot be detected using conventional plate counting techniques.
This review provides an overview of the various features of the VBNC state,
including the biological characteristics, induction and resuscitation factors,
formation and resuscitation mechanisms, detection methods, and relationship to
food safety.
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00580
PMCID: PMC5378802
PMID: 28421064
