Reuterin Demonstrates Potent Antimicrobial Activity Against a Broad Panel of Human and Poultry Meat Campylobacter spp. Isolates

Reuterin is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial system produced by specific strains of during anaerobic metabolism of glycerol. Acrolein is the main component responsible for its antimicrobial activity. Here, the sensitivity of ( = 51) and ( = 20) isolates from chicken meat and human stool samples to reuterin was investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of and strains was measured between 1.5 and 3.0 µM of acrolein, below the MIC of the sensitive indicator strain K12 (16.5 µM acrolein). The interaction of N16-1419 and the reuterin-producing PTA5_F13 was studied during 24 h co-cultures with or without glycerol. A high growth was observed in cultures without glycerol. In contrast, growth decreased from 7.3 ± 0.1 log CFU/mL to below detection limit (1 log CFU/mL) during co-cultures added with 28 mM glycerol. This bactericidal effect could be attributed to in situ reuterin production. The low MIC observed and the high sensitivity towards in situ produced reuterin suggests combined with glycerol, as a possible intervention option to reduce in the food chain.