Clostridium perfringens research on vacuum packed beef commercialized on Distrito Federal and in the surrounding area

Abstract

The aim of this work was to detect Clostridium perfringens in 54 samples of vacuum packed beef sold at the Federal District area, and to detect the presence of the cpe toxin gene by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), also evaluate the culture medium SPS® agar and TSC® agar, with and without pre-enrichment step of the samples in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth in the anaerobic chamber, and to promote the incubation of the plates in anaerobic jar and anaerobic chamber. The results of the incubation on SPS® agar and TSC® agar, without the pre-enrichment step in BHI, growth was observed in only one (1,85%) of the 54 analyzed samples, in both culture media and incubation methods. With the pre-enrichment step with BHI broth in the anaerobic chamber, growth was observed in all 54 samples (100%), in both culture media and incubation methods. At the PCR, In the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), none of the strains from the analyzed samples showed fragment amplification of the toxin cpe gene. The results showed the presence of C. perfringens in vacuum packed beef samples commercialized at the Distrito Federal area and surroundings, however the cpe toxin was not detected in any isolated strain analyzed. In the statistical test using the McNemar chi-square test, a significant difference (p<0,001) was observed between the analysis with and without pre-enrichment step in BHI broth, verifying the positive influence of the medium in spore recovery, therefore to enhance the importance of the pre-enrichment stage in BHI broth and the incubation in anaerobic chamber in spore recovery for this microorganism.