The lactic acid bacteria grown in vacuum-packaged raw beef under 7, 10, 15, and 20 °C has been studied in this paper. Four primary models, the modified Gompertz, logistic, Baranyi, and Huang model were used for data fitting. Statistical criteria such as the bias factor and accuracy factor, mean square error, Akaike's information criterion, and the residual distribution were used for comparing the models. The result showed that all of the 4 models can fit the data well and they were not significantly different in the performance. They were equally capable of describing bacterial growth, but the growth rate and lag time estimated from the modified Gompertz model were a little higher than other models. The estimate for the lag time was not accurate as the growth rate.

Spores and oligosaccharide of a strain of Aspergillus niger, which had been isolated from the inner bark of Taxus chinensis, were used to treat T. chinensis leaves. The spores decreased the dry weight and chlorophyll content of the leaves, but increased their malondialdehyde content; oligosaccharide induced similar but more moderate changes. The changes in soluble protein, phenolic content, and peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase activity were also analysed. Oligosaccharide significantly increased all these, whereas the spores had contrary effects. Results indicate that oligosaccharide, but not the fungal spores, elicited a defence reaction in T. chinensis. Possible reasons for these different effects on T. chinensis leaves in vitro are discussed.