Ca and Mg Concentrations in Spices and Growth of Commonly Sporulated and Non-Sporulated Food-Borne Microorganisms According to Marketing Systems García Galdeano, José María Villalón Mir, Marina Medina Martínez, José Fonseca-Moor-Davie, Sofía María Zamora Bustillos, Jessandra Gabriela Vázquez Foronda, Lydia María Agil Abdalla, Mhmad Ahmad Navarro Alarcón, Miguel Ca and Mg concentrations Spices Microbial growth for sporulated and non-sporulated food-borne microorganisms Marketing system Ca and Mg levels were determined in five spices according to marketing system (in bulk or commercialized in glass or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers) and correlated with microbial growth of commonly sporulated (Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus) and nonsporulated (Listeria monocytogenes, psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria, and yeasts and molds) food-borne pathogens present in them, when they were previously added to the microbial culture media. The basil had the highest mean Ca and Mg level and showed the highest microbial growth in the food-borne pathogenic microorganisms studied (p < 0.001). For Ca, the lowest levels were measured in cloves (p < 0.001), which had the lowest capacity for microbial contamination. Ca and Mg contents in spices correlated linear and positively (p < 0.05). Ca concentrations weakly and positively correlated (p < 0.05) with microbial counts for almost all studied microorganisms, and Mg levels for B. cereus, C. perfringens, and mesophilic bacteria (p < 0.05), possibly acting as a growing factor for some sporulated and non-sporulated foodborne pathogens. These relationships are especially significant when PET vs. glass was used as a packaging material for spices. 2021-05-20T11:01:30Z 2021-05-20T11:01:30Z 2021 journal article García-Galdeano, J.M.; Villalón-Mir, M.; Medina-Martínez, J.; Fonseca-Moor-Davie, S.M.; Zamora-Bustillos, J.G.; Vázquez-Foronda, L.M.; Agil, A.; Navarro-Alarcón, M. Ca and Mg Concentrations in Spices and Growth of Commonly Sporulated and Non-Sporulated Food-Borne Microorganisms According to Marketing Systems. Foods 2021, 10, 1122. https://doi.org/10.3390/ foods10051122 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/68589 10.3390/foods10051122 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España MDPI