Ovine milk, standardized to 6% fat, was inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus CECT 534 and Lactobacillus helveticus CECT 414 at a concentration of 10(7) cfu/ml and treated by high hydrostatic pressure. Treatments consisted of combinations of pressure (200, 300, 400, 450, and 500 MPa), temperature (2, 10, 25, and 50 degrees C), and time (5, 10, and 15 min). Staphylococcus aureus was highly resistant to pressure; only pressurizations at 50 degrees C of 500 MPa for 15 min achieved reductions of > or = 7.3 log units. For L. helveticus, the number of surviving cells was reduced considerably at pressures of 400 MPa or more (up to 4.5 log units at 50 degrees C for 15 min), and pressure was more effective at low (2 and 10 degrees C) and moderately high (50 degrees C) temperatures than at room temperature (25 degrees C). Both species showed first-order kinetics of destruction in the range 0 to 60 min. The D values for S. aureus were 20 min (2 degrees C at 450 MPa) and 16.7 min (25 degrees C at 450 MPa), and D values for L. helveticus were 7.1 min (2 degrees C at 450 MPa) and 9.1 min (25 degrees C at 450 MPa). Lactobacillus helveticus showed higher rates of survival of pressure than those reported in previous studies for other Lactobacillus spp.