The dairy industry is a major industrial sector worldwide, including in Canada, where there are more than 10,500 dairy farms producing nearly 90 million hL of milk each year1. Despite the strict hygiene requirements imposed in the dairy industry, including in processing plants, milk constitutes a great culture medium for microorganisms, and thus, dairy products are likely to contain microorganisms, including spoilage or pathogenic microorganisms. These pathogens can cause various diseases; for example, Salmonella sp. and Listeria monocytogenes can cause gastroenteritis and meningitis, respectively2. Spoilage microorganisms can affect the quality and organoleptic properties of dairy products by producing gases, extracellular enzymes, or acids3. The appearance and color of the milk may also be altered, for example by Pseudomonas spp.4.
Some of these microorganisms can form biofilms on different surfaces, including stainless steel. Such biofilms enable the persistence and multiplication of microorganisms on the surface of the equipment and, thus, the contamination of the dairy products5. Biofilms are also problematic because of their ability to impede heat transfer and accelerate the corrosion of the equipment, leading to premature replacement of the equipment and, thus, to economic losses6.
Clean-in-place (CIP) procedures allow the food industry to control the growth of microorganisms. These procedures involve the sequential use of sodium hydroxide, nitric acid, and, sometimes, sanitizers containing hypochlorous acid and peracetic acid7,8. Although hypochlorous acid is highly effective against microorganisms, it also reacts with natural organic matter, causing the formation of toxic by-products9. Peracetic acid does not generate harmful by-products10; however, its effectiveness against biofilms in the food industry is highly variable10,11. Recently, other peroxyacids, including perpropionic and perlactic acids, have been studied for their antimicrobial activity, and they appear to be a good alternative for the control of microbial growth in biofilms12,13.
Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of organic peroxyacids (peracetic, perpropionic, and perlactic acids and a peracetic acid-based disinfectant) for eradicating dairy biofilms using an approach combining the minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) assay, a static high-throughput screening method, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) biofilm reactor, a dynamic method that mimics in situ conditions. The MBEC assay is hereafter referred to as "biofilm microtiter plates" in the protocol. The protocol presented here and the representative results demonstrate the efficacy of organic peroxyacids and their potential application for controlling microbial biofilms in the dairy industry.