Microbiological Aspects Related to the Feasibility of PEF Technology for Food Pasteurization

Abstract

Processing unit operations that seek to inactivate harmful microorganisms are of primary importance in ascertaining the safety of food. The capability of pulsed electric fields (PEF) to inactivate vegetative cells of microorganisms at temperatures below those used in thermal processing makes this technology very attractive as a nonthermal pasteurization process for the food industry. Commercial exploitation of this technology for food pasteurization requires the identification of the most PEF-resistant microorganisms that are of concern to public health. Then, the treatment conditions applicable at industrial scale that would reduce the population of these microorganisms to a level that guarantees food safety must be defined. The objective of this paper is to critically compile recent, relevant knowledge with the purpose of enhancing the feasibility of using PEF technology for food pasteurization and underlining the required research for designing PEF pasteurization processes.

Electroporation-based applications in biotechnology

“…Wastewater treatment Inactivation of microorganisms by electroporation has already been demonstrated in the 1960s and proved to be efficient for increasing the shelf-life of liquid food [39]; the use of electroporation for microbial inactivation is often termed pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment.…”

Toward a Philosophy and Theory of Volumetric Nonthermal Processing

“…The questions asked of one may be rephrased or inverted and asked of the other; it is hoped by this treatment that each may gain ideas that might aid their individual scientific development. A further key point is that it is not our intent here to write a comprehensive review article, since the literature on these technologies is vast, and many detailed reviews are already available (including, recently Saulis ; Huang and others ; Buckow and others ; Reineke and others ; Chakraborty and others ; Huang and others ; Martinez‐Monteagudo and Saldaña ; Medina‐Meza and others ; Saldaña and others ; Sement‐Moreno and others ; Terefe and others , 2015; Karwe and others ). Further, we will not aim to comprehensively cover every study on these subjects, since many works are valuable on their own for specific products.…”

“…A vast array of literature is now available on continuous flow PEF processing. While it is impossible to cover the vast scope of literature herein, the reader is referred to various detailed reviews, including those of Mosqueda‐Melgar and others () relating to the effect on pathogenic microorganisms; Gerlach and others () on numerical simulations of PEF; Saldaña and others () a review of microbiological aspects, and Buckow and others () relative to orange juice processing.…”

Membrane fatty acids composition and fluidity modification in Salmonella Typhimurium by culture temperature and resistance under pulsed electric fields

“…The efficacy of PEF treatment to inactivation microorganisms may be ascribed to many factors. On the one hand, significant correlations between PEF parameters such as electric field strength, pulse duration and frequency were observed (Saldaña et al, 2014;Yun et al, 2017). On the other hand, micro-organism characteristics including recovery condition, growth phase and sizes of micro-organisms also affect the PEF lethality (Somolinos et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2017).…”