Aims: To study and compare the resistance of 15 Staphylococcus aureus isolates to heat, pulsed electric field (PEF) and ultrasound (UW) under pressure (manosonication, MS). Methods and Results: Survival curves to heat (58 degrees C), to PEF (22 W cm(-1), 2 mu s square wave pulses) and to UW under pressure (117 mu m, 20 kHz, 200 kPa) were obtained and inactivation parameters (decimal reduction times for heat and UW under pressure, and b-values for PEF) were calculated. A wide resistance variation to heat treatment, but not to PEF and MS, was observed amongst the 15 strains. Conclusions: There was no relationship between the resistances to the three physical agents studied. Staphylococcus aureus was relatively resistant to MS but sensitive to PEF. Heat resistance varied with strain and was positively correlated to carotenoid pigment content. Significance and Impact of the Study: Results would help in defining safe food preservation processes. Care should be taken to choose the most adequate strain of S. aureus to model food preservation processing.