Effect of Carbon Dioxide on Growth of Meat Spoilage Bacteria

The ability of CO₂ to inhibit respiration and growth of representative strains of seven species of meat spoilage bacteria was examined. Enterobacter and Microbacterium thermosphactum were unaffected by CO₂. Both respiration and growth of the other species were inhibited. With four of the species (fluorescent and nonfluorescent Pseudomonas, Alteromonas putrefaciens, and Yersinia enterocolitica), the inhibition pattern in a complex medium was similar, and inhibition was incomplete and reached a maximum level at comparatively low concentrations of CO₂. With Acinetobacter, inhibition continued to increase with increasing CO₂ concentration. The degree of inhibition with a constant concentration of CO₂ in solution increased with decreasing temperature for all CO₂-susceptible species except the nonfluorescent Pseudomonas. Anaerobic growth of CO₂-susceptible facultative anaerobes was unaffected by CO₂.