Premium
INACTIVATION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI IN SKIM MILK BY HIGH INTENSITY PULSED ELECTRIC FIELDS
Author(s) -
MARTÍN O.,
QIN B.L.,
CHANG F.J.,
BARBOSACÁNOVAS G.V.,
SWANSON B.G.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of food process engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1745-4530
pISSN - 0145-8876
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4530.1997.tb00425.x
Subject(s) - skimmed milk , electric field , food science , escherichia coli , chemistry , microorganism , intensity (physics) , bacteria , biology , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , gene , genetics
The inactivation of microorganisms is the most important function in the processing of milk and dairy products. Traditionally, this purpose is realized by thermal treatment, but heat produces alterations to flavor and taste in addition to nutrient loss. The high intensity pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment should be a good alternative to heat because demonstrations have shown PEF can reduce the Escherichia coli survival fraction in aqueous solutions and model foods. In this study, PEF treatment was found to inactivate E. coli in skim milk (inoculum 10 9 CFU/mL) at 15C. The microorganism inactivation satisfied Hülsheger's model following a first order kinetic for both the electric field intensity and number of pulses when skim milk inoculated with E. coli was treated in a static or continuous flow chamber. PEF treatment in a continuous system when the critical electric field (E c ) and minimum number of pulses (n min ) were 12.34 kV/cm and 2.7 at 30 kV/cm and 30 pulses (0.7–1.8 μs pulse width) inactivated more microorganisms than in a static system. It has also been proven that increasing the pulse duration increases the E. coli inactivation. The inactivation of E. coli using PEF is more limited in skim milk than in a buffer solution when exposed to similar treatment conditions of field intensity and number of pulses due to the complex composition of skim milk, its lower electrical resistivity and the presence of proteins.