Abstract:Bacillus, particularly in its spore form, exhibits exceptional resistance to extreme conditions such as high temperatures, desiccation, radiation, and chemical disinfectants. This resilience makes it one of the most difficult contaminants to control in dairy processing, severely restricting product quality and shelf life.. Due to limited understanding of sporulation mechanisms in previous studies, conventional control methods are insufficient to eliminate contamination risks at the source, highlighting the urgent need to develop more efficient and mild novel intervention technologies. In this context, recent years have seen notable progress in both spore detection and the development of innovative control strategies. On the one hand, detection systems based on emerging methods such as Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) and Enzymatic Recombinase Amplification (ERA) have been gradually established, enabling rapid and highly sensitive detection of spores while addressing the drawbacks of traditional methods, including long detection time and susceptibility to matrix interference. On the other hand, novel non-thermal control technologies (e.g., ultrasound, high pressure, ion beam, and pulsed electric fields) combined with biological control strategies (such as bacteriocins and other microbial metabolites) have demonstrated superior inactivation efficacy, while better preserving the natural attributes of dairy products. This review summarizes research advances from the past decade regarding spore structure and formation mechanisms, their impacts on dairy quality and safety, rapid detection techniques, and multiple control strategies. The goal is to provide guidance for the precise management of Bacillus and their spores in dairy products and for ensuring food quality and safety.
