Effects of Hurdles on Pathogen Survival in Non-Alcoholic Beer

A study by Andrew Maust evaluated the antimicrobial effects of pH, carbonation, and preservatives in a non-alcoholic beer matrix. The research involved 18 factorial treatments plus 2 alternatives, each inoculated with a cocktail of five foodborne pathogens and monitored over 60 days. Samples were analyzed in triplicate on days 1, 7, 14, 28, and 60 using selective and differential plating methods.

Use Cases

• Modeling pathogen survival based on pH and carbonation levels described in the study
• Evaluating the efficacy of hop acids and potassium sorbate as antimicrobial hurdles
• Designing safe non-alcoholic beverage recipes based on combinatorial hurdle effects

Strengths

• The study design includes a factorial combination of three key variables (pH, carbonation, antimicrobials) producing 18 treatments.
• Pathogen populations were monitored over a 60-day period with samples analyzed in triplicate at five time points.
• The work provides specific, actionable findings, such as pH being a critical factor and 1.50 volumes CO₂ effectively controlling specific pathogens.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is very small at 49.1 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Experimental study involving inoculation of a model non-alcoholic beer with a bacterial cocktail and subsequent plating.

Time Range

The experiment was monitored over 60 days.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-18 05:35:45; freshness should be verified.