Final answer:
The treatment among the options given that is not bacteriostatic is incineration (D), which kills microbes rather than just inhibiting their growth. The correct answer is option D) incineration.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking which among a list of treatments is not bacteriostatic, meaning it does not stop bacteria from growing, but instead kills them. Among the options listed, A) refrigeration of mesophiles, B) desiccation, C) lyophilization, and E) freezing below 0 are all bacteriostatic methods because they inhibit microbial growth without killing the microbes.
However, D) incineration is not bacteriostatic because it involves burning materials, which leads to the sterilization and complete destruction of bacteria.
Therefore, the answer is D) incineration which is a method that kills microbes rather than merely inhibiting their growth. The process achieves this by using very high temperatures that denature and destroy bacterial cells beyond recovery, as opposed to bacteriostatic methods that only halt microbial growth temporarily. The correct answer is option D) incineration.