What kinds of microorganisms live in a microwave oven?
Microwave ovens are now one of the indispensable household appliances in our daily lives, and many people use them every day to warm up food and drinks, but they are also a place that we tend to neglect cleaning.
Frontiers | The microwave bacteriome: biodiversity of domestic and laboratory microwave ovens
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1395751/full
Scientists Reveal The Microbes That May Live in Your Microwave : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-reveal-the-microbes-that-may-live-in-your-microwave
A microwave oven is a cooking device that uses microwaves to give energy to the water molecules in food, causing them to move, raising the temperature of food. It is an electrical appliance that is used daily for cooking, but some people may not clean it often, thinking that 'since it is heated at high temperatures regularly, bacteria and microorganisms will be killed automatically without cleaning.'
To investigate the microorganisms that live inside microwave ovens, the research team took samples from the inner walls of 10 microwaves in home kitchens, 10 shared microwaves in company break rooms and university cafeterias, and 10 microwaves in molecular biology and microbiology laboratories, and investigated what types of microorganisms live inside them.
Analysis of all microwave ovens revealed Brachybacterium , Micrococcus , Paracoccus and Pliestia genera , microorganisms associated with humans and common in human environments.
Not surprisingly, microwave ovens contained a microbial profile similar to other kitchen surfaces and foods, including some bacteria that pose health risks, such as
In terms of microbial diversity, home kitchen microwaves were found to have the lowest diversity. On the Shannon Index , which measures biodiversity, all home kitchen microwaves (yellow) scored below 4, while all laboratory microwaves (red) scored above 4. Public microwaves (green) were somewhere in between.
The lab microwaves were used to heat aqueous solutions, biological samples, synthetic materials, and chemical reagents rather than food, so the bacteria found there were different from those found on kitchen surfaces. These microwaves are often used for long periods of time, so the team believes that the extreme conditions inside the microwaves may be affecting the microbial diversity.
'Among the genera that were significantly more abundant in this group of samples were species known to be resistant to high doses of radiation, such as
The microbial communities found in the lab microwaves shared many similarities with those isolated from solar panels, and the team also compared them with samples taken from nuclear waste, but found few similarities to the microbial communities in the microwaves.
Science Alert, a science media outlet, said, 'While the microbes found in household microwaves were not as extreme, the study shows that bacteria with the genetic potential to resist radiation, heat shock, and desiccation can live comfortably despite these effects. Considering that even the friendly microbes that live on our skin can withstand the harsh microwaves of microwave ovens, it's probably best to regularly clean your microwave thoroughly with detergent and be careful of food debris.'
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