Heat Resistance of Clostridium botulinum Type B Spores Grown from Isolates from Commercially Canned Mushrooms

Abstract
The heat resistance of ten Clostridium botulinum type B spore crops was determined in mushroom puree and 0.067M Sorenson phosphate buffer (pH 7). The spore crops were grown from Clostridium botulinum isolates obtained from commercially canned mushrooms. The D-values for all of the C. botulinum spore crops were overall slightly higher in the buffer than in mushroom puree. The mean D(110.0 C)-value for the ten spore crops in buffer was 1.17 min and for the spores in mushroom puree the mean D(110.0 C)-value was 0.78 min. The mean D(115.6 C)-value in buffer for the ten spore crops was 0.24 min compared to a mean D(115.6 C)-value of 0.19 min for spores in mushroom puree. The C. botulinum type B spores tested in this study had a heat resistance that was less than the classical heat resistance for C. botulinum spores.