Fátima A. Miller

A Review on Ozone-Based Treatments for Fruit and Vegetables Preservation

The development and application of efficient methods for the preservation of food products have always been industrial concerns. The search for new technologies that assure safety and quality of the products is an ever-growing challenge. In this context, ozone has emerged, presenting a set of characteristics that makes it highly suitable for fruits and vegetables. Ozone properties and ozone applications to fruits and vegetables industries are included in this work. Due to the potential of ozone-based treatments for obtaining safe products with extended shelf life, several researchers have been focusing on this topic. A compilation of those works is presented in this review, with emphasis on the ozone impact on microbial inactivation and quality aspects of processed fruits and vegetables, and fruit juices as well. This review can be a helpful tool for finding process conditions of ozone-based treatments and subsequent impacts on quality and safety attributes of already studied products, opening further areas of research.

Influence of pH, type of acid and recovery media on the thermal inactivation of Listeria innocua

Acidification of foods with organic acids, either by fermentation or by intentional addition, is an important and common mechanism for controlling foodborne pathogens in a diversity of food products. The objective of this work was to study thermal inactivation of Listeria innocua, an acid tolerant microorganism, at 52.5, 60.0 and 65.0 degrees C, at different pH values (4.5, 6.0 and 7.5), using three types of acid (lactic, acetic and hydrochloric) and three different plating media (Tryptic Soy Agar with 0.6% yeast extract-TSAYE; TSAYE plus 5% NaCl-TSAYE+5%NaCl; and Palcam Agar with selective supplement-Palcam Agar), according to a 3(4) factorial experimental design. Survival data experimentally obtained were fitted with a Gompertz-inspired model and kinetic parameters (shoulder, maximum inactivation rate-k(max), and tail) were estimated for all conditions considered. The influence of temperature, pH, type of acid and enumeration media on kinetic parameters was assessed. Results showed that, with the exception of the type of acid, all the remaining factors and their combinations significantly affected the shoulder period and k(max). In relation to tail, temperature and recovery media were the affectable factors. It was concluded that the survival of this bacteria is higher when combining low temperature with neutral pH, and when TSAYE is the enumeration medium. Bigelow-inspired models were successfully developed and describe accurately the temperature and pH effects on the kinetic parameters.

Physicochemical and bioactive compounds of ‘Cantaloupe’ melon: effect of ozone processing on pulp and seeds

ABSTRACT Melon seeds are an important source of bioactive compounds, which are considered to be health beneficial. Therefore, the objective of this work was to assess the impact of gaseous ozone treatments (30 and 60 min) on melon seeds paste (nonedible part) and compare with the effect on pulp (edible part). Ozone treatments were evaluated in terms of physicochemical (color, pH, and soluble solids content) and nutritional profiles (total phenolics, total carotenoids, and total antioxidant capacity) of processed material. Results indicate that ozone has a different impact on the two fruit matrices, being seeds less affected by this preservation treatment.

Mathematical Models for Prediction of Temperature Effects on Kinetic Parameters of Microorganisms’ Inactivation: Tools for Model Comparison and Adequacy in Data Fitting

Microbial inactivation often follows a sigmoidal kinetic behaviour, with an initial lag phase, followed by a maximum inactivation rate period and tending to a final asymptotic value. Mathematically, such tendencies may be described by using primary kinetic models (Gompertz based model is one example) that describe microbial survival throughout processing time when stressing conditions are applied. The parameters of kinetic models are directly affected by temperature. Despite the number of mathematical equations used to describe the dependence of the kinetic parameters on temperature (so-called secondary models), there is a lack of studies regarding model comparison and adequacy in data fitting. This work provides a review of mathematical models that describe the temperature dependence of kinetic parameters related to microbial thermal inactivation. Regression analysis schemes and tests seeking model comparison are presented. A case study is included to provide guidance for the assessment of secondary model adequacy and regression analyses procedures. When modelling temperature effects on sigmoidal inactivation kinetics of microorganisms, one should be aware about the regression methodology applied. The most adequate models according to the two-step regression methodology may not be the best selection if a global fit is applied.