Formation of Antibacterial Factor by Heating System Containing Nitrite and Tryptone

Abstract

A Perigo-type antibacterial factor (PTF) was produced when tryptone (a pancreatic digest of casein) medium was heated with nitrite at 121°C for 20 min. This PTF was inhibitory against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium botulinum, but was not against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. The inhibitory activity varied with the concentration of nitrite (5-100 ppm) and tryptone (1, 2, 4%), and with pH (4, 5, 6, 7). The maximum inhibitory activity was observed when the medium containing 4% tryptone and 0.2% thioglycolate was heated with more than 50 ppm nitrite at pH 6. The tryptone was separated into three fractions by gel filtration and PTF was produced in every fraction, although the inhibitory activity was different in each. Our PTF might be unstable towards oxygen because its activity was lost completely by shaking for more than 16 hr.