Some Observations on Bacterial Thermal Death Time Curves

Thermal death rate data were obtained for spores of Clostridium sporogenes P.A. 3679 and Bacillus subtilis var. niger, and for cells of Salmonella senftenberg 775W. The survival curves for P.A. 3679 were approximately linear, but for B. subtilis var. niger or S. senftenberg 775W they were sigmoidal. Decimal reduction times were derived from the regression slopes of the apparent linear portion of the survival curves, and from these a phantom thermal death time (TDT) curve was constructed. In general, the phantom TDT curves were linear for B. subtilis var. niger and S. senftenberg 775W and nonlinear for P.A. 3679.