Final answer:
The correct answer is 'point' for the thermal death point. It is the lowest temperature at which all microbes are sterilized in a specific volume within 10 minutes, a critical concept in sterilization practices in medicine and food safety.
Step-by-step explanation:
The thermal death point is the lowest temperature that achieves sterilization in a given volume within 10 minutes. Sterilization is a crucial process in both medical applications and the food industry. The decimal reduction time (D-value) relates to the time required to kill certain proportions of a microbial population. Specifically, the D-value is the time needed to achieve a 90% reduction in the microbial population. Physical or chemical methods of microbial control that result in the death of the microbe include suffixes like -cide or -cidal, while methods that inhibit growth use -stat or -static.
For instance, autoclaves operate at standard temperatures of 121 °C or 132 °C to achieve complete sterilization, ensuring that endospores are killed. Home canning of low-acid foods like meats and vegetables also requires high temperatures that are reached through pressure canning to ensure that C. botulinum endospores are killed. Understanding the concepts of thermal death point, thermal death time, and decimal reduction time is essential in selecting the correct protocol for effective microbial control.