Observation of a temperature dependent anomaly in the UV translucency of milk useful for UV-C preservation techniques.

Milk fat globules and casein micelles are the dispersed particles of milk that are responsible for its typical white turbid appearance and usually make it difficult to treat with modern ultraviolet light (UV) preservation techniques. The translucency of milk depends largely on the refractive indices of the dispersed particles, which are directly affected by temperature changes, as incorporated triglycerides can crystallize, melt or transition into other polymorphs. These structural changes have a significant effect on the scattering properties and thus on the UV light propagation in milk, especially by milk fat globules. In this study, a temporary minimum in the optical density of milk was observed within UV wavelength at 14 °C when heating the milk from 6 to 40 °C. This anomaly is consistent with structural changes detected by a distinct endothermic peak at 14 °C using differential scanning calorimetry. Apparently, the optical density anomaly between 10 and 20 °C disappears when the polymorphic transition already has proceeded through previous isothermal equilibration. Thus, melting of equilibrated triglycerides may not affect the RI of milk fat globules at ca. 14 °C as much as melt-mediated polymorphic transitioning. An increased efficiency of UV-C preservation (254 nm) at the translucency optimum was demonstrated by temperature-dependent microbial inactivation experiments.

Uridine as a non-toxic actinometer for UV-C treatment: influence of temperature and concentration.

UV-C treatment is an effective method to inactivate microorganisms and therefore gets increasingly more attention in food industry, especially for liquid products. To test and monitor different UV-C reactor designs, a photochemical actinometer is required that gives reliable UV-C dose values and is non-toxic allowing frequent control of the production chain. Here, a variable concentrated aqueous uridine solution is tested as a photochemical actinometer. Uridine reacts at 262 nm by photohydration to a single photoproduct not absorbing any light. A concentration dependent quantum yield (Ф) was quantified in the range of 0.2-3.0 mM uridine. Results show that uridine is as accurate as the commonly accepted iodide/iodate actinometry, but not as precise. Especially at higher concentrations a higher number of measurements becomes necessary. Further, a temperature correction is presented for 10 °C > ϑ > 30 °C. Taking these results into account, uridine can certainly be considered as a non-toxic dosimeter for UV-C systems.

Inactivation of E. coli and L. innocua in milk by a thin film UV-C reactor modified with flow guiding elements (FGE).

In this study the suitability of a thin-film reactor (TFR) equipped with special flow guiding elements (FGE) was examined to analyse its capability to inactivate microorganisms in milk. Experiments were carried out with UHT-milk inoculated with Escherichia coli (E. coli), DH5α and Listeria innocua (L. innocua) WS 2258. Furthermore, the inactivation of microorganisms originally occurring in raw milk was investigated. E. coli, DH5α and L. innocua serving as biodosimeter were reduced by 4.58-log and 3.19-log, respectively. In milk, the original microorganisms showed a 4-log reduction. Without FGE the reduction was below 0.13-log. Thus, it can be derived that the efficacy of a UV-C thin-film reactor processing absorptive media like milk can be highly improved using FGE.

Experimental setup and image processing method for automatic enumeration of bacterial colonies on agar plates.

Automated colony counting methods have long been known in Microbiology. Numerous methods for automated image analysis have been described and a wide range of commercial products exists. Known advantages are saving cost by reducing enumeration time, automatic documentation, reproducibility, and operator independence. Still, even today the realization of all advantages of automated image analysis makes it necessary to either invest in an expensive, high performance commercial system, or to acquire expert knowledge in image processing. This is a considerable obstacle for many laboratories, and the reason why manual colony counting is still done frequently. This article describes an easy to apply automatic colony counting system-including suggestions for sample preparation-that can be put into operation with basic knowledge of image processing and low budget.

Actinometric and biodosimetric evaluation of UV-C dose delivery in annular, Taylor-Coutte and coiled tube continuous systems.

In this study, the evaluation of the performance of two thin-film UV-C reactors (annular and Taylor-Couette) and a coiled tube system is presented using actinometry and biodosimetry methods. The iodide/iodate actinometry method was found suitable for comparison of the efficiency of UV-C dose delivery of the UV-C continuous flow systems. Inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 in quarter-strength Ringer's solution (absorption coefficient α254 nm ∼ 0 cm-1) at various flow conditions at Reynolds numbers in the range of 26 to 3000 showed a good correlation between the different reactor types. In high UV-C absorbing liquids, the inactivation efficiency increases due to the improved radial mixing. The inactivation performance of the Taylor-Couette system correlates to the annular reactor when no rotation force is applied. The residence time distributions showed the narrowest distribution with the coiled tube system at comparable flow rates. The results indicate that, despite the laminar flow conditions, the performance of the Taylor-Couette unit becomes equal to the turbulent flow conditions of the coiled tube reactor by rotation of the inner cylinder.

Cyto-genotoxic and oxidative effects of a continuous UV-C treatment of liquid egg products.

UV-C treatment of food is a promising non-thermal processing technology to improve food safety and preservation. Most of the chemical constituents of food absorb UV-C light that can lead to chemical modifications and quality changes. This work investigated the effects of UV-C treatment of liquid egg products on lipid, protein oxidations and potential cyto- and genotoxic effects on intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. Egg preparations (egg white, yolk, liquid whole egg) were treated with UV-C (254 nm, volumetric doses between 0 and 115,619 J L(-1)) using a commercial UV-C processing unit equipped with a Dean Flow reactor. UV-C treatment at high doses (from 32,181 J L(-1), about 2 times higher than that needed to inactivate 5 log of relevant microorganisms) showed an increased lipid oxidation in egg yolk and slight effects in liquid whole eggs; this was confirmed by slightly but not statistically significant increased peroxide values. UV-C induced also slight protein damage, characterised by the total sulfhydryl group reduction. These UV-C-induced oxidative modifications in egg preparations however did not cause any increase in the cyto- or genotoxic (DNA strand breaks) effects in intestinal Caco-2 cells.

Post-irradiation changes of the volatile oil constituents of Monodora myristica (Gaertn) Dunal.

Volatile oil rich spices cannot be sterilised by pasteurisation because of the presence of thermal-sensitive components. In this article, we report the effect of irradiation on the volatile constituents of Monodora myristica. The samples were irradiated at ambient conditions at dose levels of 0 and 15 kGy using a linear accelerator at a dose rate of approximately 10(7) Gy s(-1). The volatile oil was extracted via headspace analysis and the quantification carried out with a HP-5MS fused silica column. Twenty-three constituents were identified with alpha-phellandrene as the major constituent (53%). Electron-beam irradiation of M. myristica did not significantly affect the volatile constituent profile at 15 kGy. Except alpha-thujene, which was increased from 7.18% to 16.76%, the most affected constituents were those that constitute less than 0.10% of the oil. Irradiation could be an effective way for decontamination of M. myristica.