This research was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de
Nível Superior-Brazil (CAPES)-Finance Code 001, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico
e Tecnológico-Brazil (CNPq), and Fundação Araucária-Brazil-Programa Universal Pesquisa Básica e Aplicada (Edital 05/2011, Agreement 346/2014). J.S. Amaral is grateful to the Foundation for
Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to
CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020).
This study evaluated the inhibitory effect of phytic acid (PA) on the spore germination and
vegetative cells growth of Clostridium perfringens type A, as well as its effect in combination with
maltodextrin (MD) in cooked sausages. The addition of 1% PA showed a satisfactory inhibition of
spores’ germination and vegetative cells growth of C. perfringens in BHI media. The inhibitory effect
of 1% PA on vegetative cells was similar to the additive sodium sorbate (SS) at 10%. Subsequently,
a mixture of PA-MD (1:1; w/w) was evaluated for the inhibition of C. perfringens spores in cooked
sausages. The PA-MD 1.5% and 2.5% had a similar performance to SS 10% and a similar or higher
performance than 0.015% NO2 (p < 0.05). In an unprecedented way, the present study demonstrated
that PA inhibited spore germination and vegetative cells growth of C. perfringens, highlighting its
potential use as an alternative and natural preservative for the meat industry.
