Raw and dry-cured meats have been identified as a potential source of Toxoplasma gondii infection for humans. The present study evaluated the efficacy of an alternative non-thermal food-processing treatment, high hydrostatic pressure, on the viability of T. gondii bradyzoites in raw and dry-cured ham. Meat of pigs experimentally exposed to 4000 oocysts of T. gondii VEG strain was vacuum-packaged and subjected to high pressure processing (HPP). Tap water (6 °C ± 1 °C) was used as the pressure-transmitting fluid, and its temperature during HPP increased 2.7 °C per 100 MPa. The effect was evaluated by bioassay in mice followed by qPCR. In raw ham, 100–400 MPa/1 min did not inactivate T. gondii, whereas 600 MPa/20 min was effective. In dry-cured ham, 600 MPa for 3 or 10 min were not effective and a 20-min treatment was required to render the bradyzoites non-infectious for mice. Our results point toward the potential use of HPP as a tool for risk control of T. gondii and as a food safety guarantee.

Industrial relevance text

Under real production conditions, the usual HPP treatments applied by the food industry to control L. monocytogenes and other pathogenic bacteria are 600 MPa of pressure and holding times of 3–10 min. Our study demonstrated, however, that longer treatment times are required to inactivate the parasite and, thus, to guarantee the safety of raw and dry-cured meats in order to reduce the public health risk of toxoplasmosis. Further research is needed to evaluate other HPP conditions, including pulsed cycles, for the inactivation of T. gondii in foods of animal origin.

中文翻译：

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来自实验感染猪的生火腿和干腌火腿的高压加工（HPP）作为控制弓形虫风险的潜在工具

生肉和干肉已被确定为人类弓形虫感染的潜在来源。本研究评估了替代的非热食品加工处理，高静水压力对生火腿和干腌火腿中刚地弓形虫缓殖子活力的影响。实验暴露于4000个刚地弓形虫VEG卵囊的猪的肉被真空包装并进行高压处理（HPP）。自来水（6°C±1°C）被用作压力传递流体，HPP期间其温度每100 MPa升高2.7°C。通过在小鼠中进行生物测定，然后进行qPCR来评估效果。在生火腿中，100–400 MPa / 1分钟不会使弓形虫失活，而600 MPa / 20分钟有效。在干腌火腿中，600 MPa的3或10分钟无效，需要20分钟的处理时间才能使缓殖子对小鼠无感染力。我们的结果表明HPP可能被用作弓形虫风险控制的工具和食品安全保证。

行业相关文字

在实际生产条件下，食品工业用于控制单核细胞增生李斯特氏菌和其他病原细菌的常规HPP处理方法是压力为600 MPa，保持时间为3-10分钟。但是，我们的研究表明，需要更长的处理时间才能使寄生虫失活，从而保证生肉和干肉的安全性，从而降低弓形虫病的公共卫生风险。需要进一步的研究来评估其他HPP条件，包括脉冲周期，以使动物源食品中的弓形虫灭活。