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. 2023 Nov 24;12(23):4245.
doi: 10.3390/foods12234245.

High-Pressure Inactivation of Bacillus cereus in Human Breast Milk

Miroslava Jandová  1   2 , Michaela Fišerová  1 , Pavla Paterová  3 , Lucie Cacková  3 , Pavel Měřička  1 , Jan Malý  4 , Marian Kacerovský  5 , Eliška Kovaříková  6 , Jan Strohalm  6 , Kateřina Demnerová  7 , Jana Kadavá  7 , Hana Sýkorová  7 , Radomír Hyšpler  8 , Dana Čížková  2 , Aleš Bezrouk  9 , Milan Houška  6
Affiliations

High-Pressure Inactivation of Bacillus cereus in Human Breast Milk

Miroslava Jandová et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Although Holder pasteurization is the recommended method for processing breast milk, it does affect some of its nutritional and biological properties and is ineffective at inactivating spores. The aim of this study was to find and validate an alternative methodology for processing breast milk to increase its availability for newborn babies and reduce the financial loss associated with discarding milk that has become microbiologically positive. We prepared two series of breast milk samples inoculated with the Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) strain to verify the effectiveness of two high-pressure treatments: (1) 350 MPa/5 min/38 °C in four cycles and (2) cumulative pressure of 350 MPa/20 min/38 °C. We found that the use of pressure in cycles was statistically more effective than cumulative pressure. It reduced the number of spores by three to four orders of magnitude. We verified that the method was reproducible. The routine use of this method could lead to an increased availability of milk for newborn babies, and at the same time, reduce the amount of wasted milk. In addition, high-pressure treatment preserves the nutritional quality of milk.

Keywords: Bacillus cereus; human breast milk; inoculation; pressurization.

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Conflict of interest statement

We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. We have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The algorithm of the experiment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Plastic bags with milk samples intended for pressurization.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The high-pressure isostatic press CYX 6/103 (Žďas join-stock company, Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech Republic).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pressurization cycles—pressure changes during one cycle.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Pressurization cycles—detail changes.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The resulting amount of B. cereus (CFU/mL) after applying pressure in cycles (P1) and continuous pressure (P2) in experiment I. The midline of the boxplot denotes the mean, the top line + SD, the bottom line—SD, and the whiskers denote the maximum and minimum values. The asterisk indicates the statistically significant results.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The resulting amount of B. cereus (CFU/mL) after applying pressure in cycles (P1) and continuous pressure (P2) in experiment II. The midline of the boxplot denotes the mean, the top line + SD, the bottom line—SD, and the whiskers denote the maximum and minimum values. The asterisk indicates the statistically significant results.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Residual percentage of microbial contamination (CFU/mL) after application of both pressurization methods. P1 denotes pressurization in cycles, P2 denotes continuous pressurization. The blue point in the graph represents an outlier.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Cumulative visualization of pressurization in cycles.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Cumulative visualization of continuous pressurization.
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