tyndallization

The tindalization, or fractional heating method, is a type of thermal heat sterilization devised by the British physicist John Tyndall (1820-1893).

How is tindalization performed?

We operate between three and five heating systems at 60-80 ° C lasting about one hour each, separated by a 24-hour rest at room temperature or, more correctly, in incubation conditions (30-35 ° C) .

The tindalization is based on the principle, however debatable, that the vegetative microbial forms would be destroyed by the first heating at 60-80 ° C; in the following 24 hours of rest the sporogenous forms, formed following the initial heat treatment, would evolve into a vegetative form and would therefore be destroyed by subsequent heating. However, this principle does not consider that the spores evolve to the vegetative form only under optimal conditions.

The tindalization is however advisable in the case in which the material to be sterilized is very sensitive to heat and presents a low initial microbial charge.