Survival and growth of Campylobacter jejuni in egg yolk and albumen

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni will grow in egg yolk and in yolk-albumen melanges reaching populations in excess of 108 CFU/ml. Albumen alone is highly toxic, with D10 values of 2.4 h in vitro at 42°C. Exposure to albumen in vitro is not reversed by later exposure to yolk; rather a substrate accelerated death effect is seen in the presence of added yolk. C. jejuni was generally more sensitive to gelatinous albumen than to less viscous albumen, although both forms of albumen inhibited motility after 6 h of incubation at 42°C. Sensitivity to albumen was only partially due to the individual effects of pH or lysozyme. The major factor in the sensitivity of C. jejuni to egg white was the conalbumen as demonstrated by in vitro culture.