Development of Kinetic Models Describing Kinetic Behavior of Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus in Milk

This study developed predictive models to evaluate the kinetic behaviors of Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus in milk during storage at various temperatures. B. cereus and S. aureus (3 Log CFU/mL) were inoculated into milk and stored at 10 o C, 15 o C, 20 o C, and 30 o C, as well as 5 o C, 15 o C, 25 o C, and 35 o C, respectively, while bacterial populations were enumerated. The growth data were fitted to the modified Gompertz model to estimate kinetic parameters, including the maximum specific growth rate (µmax; Log CFU/[mL·h]), lag phase duration (LPD; h), lower asymptote (N0; Log CFU/mL), and upper asymptote (Nmax; Log CFU/mL). To describe the kinetic behavior of B. cereus and S. aureus, the parameters were fitted to the square root model as a function of storage temperature. Finally, the developed models were validated with the observed data, and Bias (B) and Accuracy (A) factors were calculated. Cell counts of both bacteria increased with storage time. Primary modeling yielded the following parameters; µmax: 0.14-0.75 and 0.06-0.51 Log CFU/mL/h; LPD: 1.78-14.03 and 0.00-1.44 h, N0: 3.10-3.37 and 2.09-3.07 Log CFU/mL, and Nmax: 7.59-8.87 and 8.60-9.32 Log CFU/mL for B. cereus and S. aureus, respectively. Secondary modeling yielded a determination of coefficient (R 2 ) of 0.926–0.996. B factors were 1.20 and 0.94, and A factors were 1.16 and 1.08 for B. cereus and S. aureus, respectively. Thus, the mathematical models developed here should be useful in describing the kinetic behaviors of B. cereus and S. aureus in milk during storage.