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Distribution Of Enterotoxigenic Clostridium Perfringens Spores In U.S. Retail Spices, Chi-An Lee
Distribution Of Enterotoxigenic Clostridium Perfringens Spores In U.S. Retail Spices, Chi-An Lee
Masters Theses
246 samples of bulk and packaged spices from retail stores in the western, southeastern, southern, midwestern, and northeastern areas of the U.S. were examined for the presence of Clostridium -perfringens. Isolates were checked for the presence of the lecithinase gene (cpa) and enterotoxin genes (cpe) by PCR. Enterotoxin formation during sporulation was investigated using the Oxoid Toxin Detection Kit. Forty-three confirmed isolates (from 17% of total samples) were cpa-positive. Of those, 27 were cpe-positive. Together, levels of C. perfringens spores ranged from 3.6-2400/gm. The amount of enterotoxin in cell extracts ranged from …