Effect of in-package atmospheric cold plasma discharge on microbial safety and quality of ready-to-eat ham in modified atmospheric packaging during storage.

Listeria monocytogenes is often responsible for postprocessing contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) products including cooked ham. As an emerging technology, atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) has the potential to inactivate L. monocytogenes in packaged RTE meats. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of treatment time, modified atmosphere gas compositions (MAP), ham formulation, and post-treatment storage (1 and 7 days at 4 °C) on the reduction of a five-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes and quality changes in ham subjected to in-package ACP treatment. Initial average cells population on ham surfaces were 8 log CFU/cm2 . The ACP treatment time and gas composition significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the inactivation of L. monocytogenes, irrespective of ham formulations. When MAP1 (20% O2 + 40% CO2 + 40% N2 ) was used, there was a significantly higher log reduction (>2 log reduction) in L. monocytogenes on ham in comparison to MAP2 (50% CO2 + 50% N2 ) and MAP3 (100% CO2 ), irrespective of ham formulation. Addition of preservatives (that is, 0.1% sodium diacetate and 1.4% sodium lactate) or bacteriocins (that is, 0.05% of a partially purified culture ferment from Carnobacterium maltaromaticum UAL 307) did not significantly reduce cell counts of L. monocytogenes after ACP treatment. Regardless of type of ham, storage of 24 hr after ACP treatment significantly reduced cells counts of L. monocytogenes to approximately 4 log CFU/cm2 . Following 7 days of storage after ACP treatment, L. monocytogenes counts were below the detection limit (>6 log reduction) when samples were stored in MAP1. However, there were significant changes in lipid oxidation and color after post-treatment storage. In conclusion, the antimicrobial efficacy of ACP is strongly influenced by gas composition inside the package and post-treatment storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Surface contamination of RTE ham with L. monocytogenes may occur during processing steps such as slicing and packaging. In-package ACP is an emerging nonthermal technology, which can be used as a postpackaging decontamination step in industrial settings. This study demonstrated the influence of in-package gas composition, treatment time, post-treatment storage, and ham formulation on L. monocytogenes inactivation efficacy of ACP. Results of present study will be helpful to optimize in-package ACP treatment and storage conditions to reduce L. monocytogenes, while maintaining the quality of ham.

Cold plasma treatment of ready-to-eat ham: Influence of process conditions and storage on inactivation of Listeria innocua.

Ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meat has been linked to several Listeria monocytogenes associated recalls. Recent studies demonstrated the potential antimicrobial effects of atmospheric cold plasma treatment on various food surfaces including RTE meat products. However, the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, determining the efficacy of cold plasma to reduce Listeria has not been reported. This study investigated the influence of rosemary extract, salt (% NaCl), and treatment temperature on the efficacy of plasma to reduce numbers of L. innocua on RTE ham. The effect of post-treatment storage on L. innocua inactivation was also investigated. When the cold plasma treatment temperature was 4 °C, we observed a significant reduction in L. innocua of 1.75 and 1.51 log CFU/cm2 on 1% and 3% NaCl ham surface without rosemary extract respectively, after 180 s treatment. At a treatment temperature of 23 °C, the L. innocua cells were reduced by 1.78 and 1.43 log CFU/cm2, respectively on these surfaces after 180 s. No significant effects of salt concentration and treatment temperature were observed on L. innocua inactivation during cold plasma treatment of ham. The post treatment storage at 4 °C for 6 h after 180 s of plasma treatment enhanced further reduction of L. innocua on 1% NaCl ham without rosemary. We also observed the increased concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) equivalent lipid oxidation of plasma treated samples and was significantly higher (1.53 MDA mg/ kg ham) compared to untreated samples (0.92 MDA mg/kg ham). However, no significant differences in surface color parameters, L* and b* values were observed after plasma treatment, except a significant increase in a* values. The water content of plasma exposed samples decreased significantly for all treatment conditions whereas the water activity values were not changed significantly. In conclusion, the atmospheric cold plasma could be applied as a means for surface decontamination of RTE ham. However, the drying and oxidation of ham should be controlled in an open atmospheric plasma treatment condition.

Influence of the hot-fill water-spray-cooling process after continuous pasteurization on the number of decimal reductions and on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris CRA 7152 growth in orange juice stored at 35 degrees C.

In this study, the influence of the hot-fill water-spray-cooling process after continuous pasteurization on the number of decimal reductions (gamma) and growth parameters (lag time; lambda, ratio N(f)/N(o); kappa, maximum growth rate; mu) of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris CRA 7152 in orange juice stored at 35 degrees C were investigated. Two different inoculum levels of A. acidoterrestris CRA 7152 (10(2) and 10(3) spores/mL) in orange juice (11(0)Brix, pH 3.7) and a Microthermics UHT-HTST pilot plant were used to simulate industrial conditions. Results have shown that regardless of the inoculum level (10(2) or 10(3) spores/mL), the pasteurization processes were unable to cause even 1 gamma. Predictive modeling using the Baranyi model showed that only kappa and time to reach 10(4)spores/mL (t10(4) - time to juice spoilage) were affected by the spore inoculum used (p<0.05). It has been concluded that A. acidoterrestris was able to survive the hot-fill process and to grow and spoil orange juice in 5-6 days when the final storage temperature was 35 degrees C.

Influence of different filling, cooling, and storage conditions on the growth of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris CRA7152 in orange juice.

The prevention of spoilage by Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris is a current challenge for fruit juice and beverage industries worldwide due to the bacterium's acidothermophilic growth capability, heat resistance, and spoilage potential. This study examined the effect of storage temperature on A. acidoterrestris growth in hot-filled orange juice. The evolution of the A. acidoterrestris population was monitored under six different storage conditions after pasteurization (at 92 degrees C for 10 s), maintenance at 85 degrees C for 150 s, and cooling with water spray to 35 degrees C in about 30 min and using two inoculum levels: <10(1) and 10(1) spores/ml. Final cooling and storage conditions were as follows: treatment 1, 30 degrees C for the bottle cold point and storage at 35 degrees C; treatment 2, 30 degrees C for 48 h and storage at 35 degrees C; treatment 3, 25 degrees C for the bottle cold point and storage at 35 degrees C; treatment 4, 25 degrees C for 48 h and storage at 35 degrees C; treatment 5, storage at 20 degrees C (control); and treatment 6, filling and storage at 25 degrees C. It was found that only in treatment 5 did the population remain inhibited during the 6 months of orange juice shelf life. By examining treatments 1 to 4, it was observed that A. acidoterrestris predicted growth parameters were significantly influenced (P < 0.05) either by inoculum level or cooling and storage conditions. The time required to reach a 10(4) CFU/ml population of A. acidoterrestris was considered to be an adequate parameter to indicate orange juice spoilage by A. acidoterrestris. Therefore, hot-filled orange juice should be stored at or below 20 degrees C to avoid spoilage by this microorganism. This procedure can be considered a safe and inexpensive alternative to other treatments proposed earlier.