Inactivation of Escherichia coli , Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and Bacillus cereus in roasted grain powder by radio frequency heating

Abstract

Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of radio frequency (RF) heating and the combination treatment of RF heating with ultraviolet (UV) radiation against foodborne pathogens in roasted grain powder (RGP). Methods and Results: Foodborne pathogens inoculated on RGP were subjected to RF heating or RF-UV combination treatments. After 120 s of RF heating, 4Á68, 3Á89 and 4Á54 log reductions were observed for Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium and Bacillus cereus vegetative cells respectively. The combined RF-UV treatment showed synergistic effects of over 1 log unit compared to the sum of individual treatment for E. coli and S. Typhimurium, but not for B. cereus vegetative cells because of their high UV resistance. Germinated B. cereus cells were not significantly inactivated by RF heating (<1 log CFU per gram), and increased heat resistance compared to the vegetative cells was verified with mild heat treatment. The colour of RGP was not significantly affected by the RF or RF-UV treatments. Conclusions: Applying RF heating to grain-based food products has advantages for the inactivation of E. coli and S. Typhimurium in RGP. Significance and Impact of the Study: The results of the present study could be used as a basis for determining the treatment conditions for inactivating E. coli and other foodborne pathogens such as S. Typhimurium and B. cereus in RGP.

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“…The FSMA mandate that all food manufacturers must be FSMA-compliant by 2024 (USFDA, 2020) has increased interest and funding in food safety research, with a corresponding increase in research output within the country. Within the United States, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) allocated a total of $4.3 billion to food and agriculture-based research between 2019 and 2021 (US and sous vide processing for elongation of the shelf-life of foods (Anumudu et al, 2021;Hart et al, 2021;Jeong et al, 2020;Onyeaka et al, 2021Onyeaka et al, , 2022Varilla et al, 2020) as highlighted in previous reviews.…”