Oxygen Requirements of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis in Tomato Juice; Ability to Grow in Aseptic Packages

Tomato juice was inoculated with spores of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis, placed in jars sealed with four polymers: oriented polypropylene (OPP), low density polypropylene with 4.5% ethyl vinyl acetate (LDPE + EVA), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), and polyethylene teraphthalate (PET); used in aseptic packages, serving as lids, heated in a boiling water bath for 10 min, and incubated at 35-degrees-C for up to 100 days. B. subtilis and B. licheniformis grew at the surface of the food when OPP and LDPE + EVA were used, which caused the pH to rise above 4.6 in 60 days and above 5.0 within 100 days. The oxygen partial pressures were 0.20 and 0.18 atm per day, and the oxygen permeation ratios were 5.64 and 0.76 cc/day for LDPE + EVA and OPP, respectively.