Comparative Effects of Food Preservatives on the Production of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin I from Staphylococcus aureus Isolate

Staphylococcal enterotoxin I (SEI) is associated with staphylococcal food poisoning, but little is known about different food preservatives on the production of SEI. In this study, the effect of different food preservatives (sodium nitrite, polylysine, chitosan, and tea catechin) on the bacteria growth, sei gene expression, and extracellular SEI production of Staphylococcus aureus isolate H4 was detected in tryptone soya broth (TSB) culture. Our results showed that all of these preservatives depressed S. aureus H4 growth and the order of inhibitory effect was 0.8 g/L tea catechin > 6 g/L chitosan > 0.25 g/L polylysine > 0.4 g/L tea catechin > 0.15 g/L sodium nitrite. Furthermore, 0.25 g/L polylysine or 0.15 g/L sodium nitrite did not significantly alter sei gene transcription, while 6 g/L chitosan obviously increased the relative mRNA level of sei gene expression. 0.4 g/L tea catechin remarkably inhibited sei gene transcription. In addition, 0.15 g/L sodium nitrite and 6 g/L chitosan significantly enhanced SEI secretion. 0.25 g/L polylysine, especially 0.4 g/L tea catechin, sharply inhibited the level of SEI secretion. The results indicated that tea catechin not only suppressed Staphylococcus aureus growth, but also inhibited SEI production and secretion, suggesting that tea catechin may be better than sodium nitrite, polylysine, or chitosan for keeping the food from the contamination of SEI. These investigations would be useful for food industry to provide safer food products due to S. aureus enterotoxins-related control strategy.