Expanding the ComBase database and developing new tools for its modelling toolbox

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The ComBase DATABASE hosts tens of thousands of records. One record represents a growth or survival curve of a foodborne pathogen in a given environment. This environment is characterised primarily by temperature, pH, water activity; but also by other secondary factors like atmosphere, additives, etc. The data were from either the scientific literature or donated by food microbiology laboratories. Using mathematical modelling and programming techniques, software tools have been written at IFR and implemented in the MODELLING Toolbox of the ComBase web site. Help and TRAINING systems were developed to provide the necessary guidance on how to use these tools and interpret their outputs. In this proposal, we would add more datasets to ComBase. The nature of these new data will also be more complex: they will include data obtained when environmental factors change during the observation time. This dynamic environmental factor can be either the temperature (e.g. during thermal treatment), water activity (e.g. during drying after manufacturing) or pH (e.g during fermentation). Many such datasets are already available in large quantities (ca 5000 records) via our collaborators, but their re-formatting for the ComBase format, verification, processing and modelling needs computational and mathematical expertise.