Combination irradiation treatments for food safety and phytosanitary uses

Abstract

Abbreviations Irradiation for food safety and preservation Several food preservation systems such as heating, refrigeration and addition of antimicrobial compounds can be used to reduce the risk of food poisoning. Current trends towards improvement in safety, quality and convenience of foods, and saving energy in food processing and distribution are increasing interest in developing new combinations of methods for food preservation. Combination of irradiation treatment with other preservative agents seems to be of potential importance in enhancing the effectiveness and reducing the energy or dose Purpose of the review: Combination of irradiation treatment with other preservation techniques is of potential importance in enhancing the effectiveness and reducing the energy or dose requirement for destroying food borne illness and spoilage organisms while retaining or improving product quality. Phytosanitary irradiation to control quarantine pests, particularly insects, in traded fresh commodities may also benefit from combination with other disinfestation techniques to enhance effectiveness, and to reduce costs, treatment time, and product damage. Main findings: Combined preservation treatments can be beneficial to eliminate pathogenic bacteria due to the synergistic or additive effect of the treatments. It also permits less extreme use of a single treatment which may protect the sensory quality of the foods. Combination with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), refrigeration, freezing or heating has great potential for improving the quality and the safety of fresh and processed foods. Irradiation and heat treatments reduce the numbers of pathogenic bacteria and the level of normal flora, while MAP and cold suppresses the growth of the survivors during subsequent storage. The use of natural antimicrobials at concentrations that do not affect the sensory qualities can increase the relative sensitivity of bacteria by >4-fold and can reduce the radiation dose necessary to eliminate pathogens. Natural antimicrobials are normally not stable over time; microencapsulation and the use of edible coatings can improve stability of antimicrobial formulations and prolong their bioactivity. Phytosanitary irradiation doses to control insects (50 to 400 Gy) are relatively low compared to doses for food safety and sterilization applications. Lowering doses further could save money on treatment costs by reducing treatment time, increasing the capacity of irradiation facilities, and reducing any problems with commodity quality. Combining irradiation with other insect disinfestation modalities such as cold, heat, fumigation, modified atmospheres, and chemical insecticides is a possible means to reduce the radiation dose, and the duration, level, or concentration of the companion treatment while meeting the technical objectives of the quarantine treatment. Irradiation in combination with cold is particularly promising, as it may be a means to reduce the duration and therefore costs of current cold treatment protocols. Irradiation may al...

Effects of Different Infra-Red Irradiations on the Survival of Granary Weevil Sitophilus granarius: Bioefficacy and Sustainability

“…Naturally, the activity degree of weevils is influenced by several parameters not investigated by us (e.g., glass surface temperature, quality of storage box, air volume, and so on), but the tendency in changes in activity depending on the temperature was reinforced by our results. Combined protection using residual insecticide and some alternative methods have already been known in post-harvest technologies, which were confirmed by several results of pertinent studies [27,28].…”

New Proposed Dose of Irradiation to Control Fruit Flies (Diptera:Tephritidae) and its Influence to Super Red Pittaya (Hylocereus costaricensis) Quality

“…As previously informed, IPPC has allowed the usage of irradiation treatment under low-oxygen concentrations only for Grapholita molesta (IPPC 2010;Zhan et al 2020). Therefore, the pest management studies through gamma-irradiation combined modified atmosphere storage should be further prioritized for decreasing flies resistant strongly related with severe hypoxia phenomenon (Dias et al 2020;Zhan et al 2020) as well as extending the shelf of life of fresh fruits directly related to slowing down of respiration rate (Barkai-Golan and Follett 2017; Lacroix and Follett 2015;Srimartpirom et al 2018).…”

Evaluation of bioactive low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposite films in combined treatment with irradiation on strawberry shelf‐life extension

“…Ionizing radiation is another technology for reducing foodborne pathogens and spoilage fungi in food (Maherani et al., 2016). Combining active LDPE films with ionizing radiation could lead to synergistic effects which may allow a reduction in the concentration of active compounds and irradiation dose compared with a single treatment (Lacroix & Follett, 2015). The objectives of the present study were to (1) optimize the antibacterial and antifungal LDPE + CNCs nanocomposite films containing active formulation (AF) (Eos + AgNPs) and glycerol, (2) study the effect of strawberries preservation when packed in the presence of active LDPE + CNCs films combined with irradiation, and (3) evaluate some physicochemical properties of the films and the fruits packed with the bioactive film and treated with γ‐irradiation during posttreatment cold storage.…”