Radiofrequency pasteurization process for inactivation of Salmonella spp. and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 on ground black pepper

Xinyao Wei, Soon Kiat Lau, Jayne Stratton, Sibel Irmak, Jeyamkondan Subbiah

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Salmonella persistence in ground black pepper has caused several foodborne outbreaks and created public concern about the safety of low water activity (a w ) foods. In this study, radiofrequency (RF) processing was evaluated for pasteurization of ground black pepper. Stability and homogeneity tests were done for both Salmonella spp. and E. faecium during moisture equilibration before RF heating to evaluate the inoculation method. Moisture content of samples were conditioned such that the final moisture content after RF heating reached the optimal storage moisture. RF heating was shown to provide more than 5.98 log CFU/g reduction for Salmonella spp. and the reduction of 3.89 log CFU/g for E. faecium with a 130 s of treatment time. The higher thermal resistance of E. faecium indicated its suitability as surrogate for Salmonella spp. during RF heating of ground black pepper. Piperine, total phenolics, volatile compounds, and antioxidant activity were assessed as quality parameters for ground black pepper. The results demonstrated that the RF processing provided effective inactivation of Salmonella spp. with insignificant (p > 0.05) quality deterioration.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)388-397
Number of pages10
JournalFood Microbiology
Volume82
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2019

Keywords

  • Dielectric heating
  • Low moisture food safety
  • Process validation
  • Quality analysis
  • Stability test
  • Surrogate

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science
  • Microbiology

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