Roman Buckow

High-Pressure-Mediated Survival of Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Endospores at High Temperature

ABSTRACT Endospores of proteolytic type B Clostridium botulinum TMW 2.357 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens TMW 2.479 are currently described as the most high-pressure-resistant bacterial spores relevant to food intoxication and spoilage in combined pressure-temperature applications. The effects of combined pressure (0.1 to 1,400 MPa) and temperature (70 to 120°C) treatments were determined for these spores. A process employing isothermal holding times was established to distinguish pressure from temperature effects. An increase in pressure (600 to 1,400 MPa) and an increase in temperature (90 to 110°C) accelerated the inactivation of C. botulinum spores. However, incubation at 100°C, 110°C, or 120°C with ambient pressure resulted in faster spore reduction than treatment with 600 or 800 MPa at the same temperature. This pressure-mediated spore protection was also observed at 120°C and 800, 1,000, or 1,200 MPa with the more heat-tolerant B. amyloliquefaciens TMW 2.479 spores. Inactivation curves for both strains showed a pronounced pressure-dependent tailing, which indicates that a small fraction of the spore populations survives conditions of up to 120°C and 1.4 GPa in isothermal treatments. Because of this tailing and the fact that pressure-temperature combinations stabilizing bacterial endospores vary from strain to strain, food safety must be ensured in case-by-case studies demonstrating inactivation or nongrowth of C. botulinum with realistic contamination rates in the respective pressurized food and equipment.

Quality-related enzymes in fruit and vegetable products: effects of novel food processing technologies, part 1: high-pressure processing.

The activity of endogenous deteriorative enzymes together with microbial growth (with associated enzymatic activity) and/or other non-enzymatic (usually oxidative) reactions considerably shorten the shelf life of fruits and vegetable products. Thermal processing is commonly used by the food industry for enzyme and microbial inactivation and is generally effective in this regard. However, thermal processing may cause undesirable changes in products sensory as well as nutritional attributes. Over the last 20 years, there has been a great deal of interest shown by both the food industry and academia in exploring alternative food processing technologies that use minimal heat and/or preservatives. One of the technologies that have been investigated in this context is high-pressure processing (HPP). This review deals with HPP focusing on its effectiveness for controlling quality-degrading enzymes in horticultural products. The scientific literature on the effects of HPP on plant enzymes, mechanism of action, and intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the effectiveness of HPP for controlling plant enzymes is critically reviewed. HPP inactivates vegetative microbial cells at ambient temperature conditions, resulting in a very high retention of the nutritional and sensory characteristics of the fresh product. Enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), and pectin methylesterase (PME) are highly resistant to HPP and are at most partially inactivated under commercially feasible conditions, although their sensitivity towards pressure depends on their origin as well as their environment. Polygalacturonase (PG) and lipoxygenase (LOX) on the other hand are relatively more pressure sensitive and can be substantially inactivated by HPP at commercially feasible conditions. The retention and activation of enzymes such as PME by HPP can be beneficially used for improving the texture and other quality attributes of processed horticultural products as well as for creating novel structures that are not feasible with thermal processing.

Pressure and temperature effects on degradation kinetics and storage stability of total anthocyanins in blueberry juice.

The degradation kinetics of total anthocyanins in blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) juice were studied during thermal processing by treatment at selected temperatures (60-121 °C) and combined high pressure-temperature processing (100-700 MPa, 40-121 °C). Anthocyanin stability was also studied for several of these treatments during storage at 4, 25, and 40 °C. Both pressure and temperature increased d, the degradation rate of total anthocyanins in blueberry juice, meaning that at constant temperature, anthocyanins were more rapidly degraded with increasing pressure. For example, 32% degradation of anthocyanins was observed after 20 min heating at 100 °C and atmospheric pressure, whereas at 100 °C and 600 MPa, approximately 50% of total anthocyanins were lost. Degradation of anthocyanins was significantly accelerated with increasing storage temperatures. Combined pressure-temperature treatment of pasteurized juice led to a slightly faster degradation of total anthocyanins during storage compared to heat treatments at ambient pressure. Degradation of anthocyanins was best described by a 1.4th-order reaction at all conditions investigated. A mathematical model describing the degradation of blueberry anthocyanins in juice as a function of pressure, temperature, and treatment time is presented.

Predictive Model for Inactivation of Feline Calicivirus, a Norovirus Surrogate, by Heat and High Hydrostatic Pressure

ABSTRACT Noroviruses, which are members of the Caliciviridae family, represent the leading cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis in developed countries; such norovirus infections result in high economic costs for health protection. Person-to-person contact, contaminated water, and foods, especially raw shellfish, vegetables, and fruits, can transmit noroviruses. We inactivated feline calicivirus, a surrogate for the nonculturable norovirus, in cell culture medium and mineral water by heat and high hydrostatic pressure. Incubation at ambient pressure and 75°C for 2 min as well as treatment at 450 MPa and 15°C for 1 min inactivated more than 7 log10 PFU of calicivirus per ml in cell culture medium or mineral water. The heat and pressure time-inactivation curves obtained with the calicivirus showed tailing in the logarithmic scale. Modeling by nth-order kinetics of the virus inactivation was successful in predicting the inactivation of the infective virus particles. The developed model enables the prediction of the calicivirus reduction in response to pressures up to 500 MPa, temperatures ranging from 5 to 75°C, and various treatment times. We suggest high pressure for processing of foods to reduce the health threat posed by noroviruses.

Pulsed Electric Field Processing of Orange Juice: A Review on Microbial, Enzymatic, Nutritional, and Sensory Quality and Stability

During the last decades pulsed electric field (PEF) processing received considerable attention due to its potential to enhance food products or create alternatives to conventional methods in food processing. It is generally acknowledged that PEF processing can deliver safe and chill-stable fruit juices with fresh-like sensory and nutritional properties. Relatively low-processing temperature and short residence times can achieve highly effective inactivation of microorganisms while retaining product quality. A first commercial application of PEF for preservation of fruit juices was launched in 2006 in the United States. Since then, industrial-scale processing equipment for liquid and solid products were developed and, in Europe in 2009, an industrial juice preservation line was installed using 20 kV/cm pulses at 40 to 50 °C to extend the chill-stability of fruit juices, including citrus juices and smoothies, from 6 to 21 d. The related PEF processing costs are in the range of US

Effect of High Pressure on Physicochemical Properties of Meat

0.02 to 0.03 per liter and are justified due to access to new markets and reduced return of spoiled product. However, despite its commercial success there are still many unknown factors associated with PEF processing of fruit and citrus juices and many conflicting reports in the literature. This literature review, therefore, aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current scientific knowledge of PEF effects on microbial, enzymatic, nutritional, and sensory quality and stability of orange juices.

Inactivation of avian influenza virus by heat and high hydrostatic pressure

The application of high pressure offers some interesting opportunities in the processing of muscle-based food products. It is well known that high-pressure processing can prolong the shelf life of meat products in addition to chilling but the pressure-labile nature of protein systems limits the commercial range of applications. High pressure can affect the texture and gel-forming properties of myofibrillar proteins and, hence, has been suggested as a physical and additive-free alternative to tenderize and soften or restructure meat and fish products. However, the rate and magnitude at which pressure and temperature effects take place in muscles are variable and depend on a number of circumstances and conditions that are still not precisely known. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of the effects of high pressure on muscle tissue over a range of temperatures as it relates to meat texture, microstructure, color, enzymes, lipid oxidation, and pressure-induced gelation of myofibrillar proteins.

Blueberry polyphenol oxidase: Characterization and the kinetics of thermal and high pressure activation and inactivation

Avian influenza viruses threaten the life of domestic terrestrial poultry and contaminate poultry meat and eggs. Recently, these viruses rarely infected humans but had a high mortality rate in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Egypt. Thereby, these viruses caused high economic costs for production of poultry and health protection. We inactivated a highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus of subtype H7N7 in cell culture medium and chicken meat by heat and high hydrostatic pressure. Because heat and pressure inactivation curves of the H7N7 virus showed deviations from first-order kinetics, a reaction order of 1.1 had to be selected. A mathematical inactivation model has been developed that is valid between 10 and 60 degrees C and up to 500 MPa, allowing the prediction of the reduction in virus titer in response to pressure, temperature, and treatment time. Incubation at 63 degrees C for 2 min and 500 MPa at 15 degrees C for 15 s inactivated more than 10(5) PFU/ml, respectively. Thus, we suggest high-pressure treatment of poultry and its products to avoid the possible health threat by highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses.

Predictive model for inactivation of Campylobacter spp. by heat and high hydrostatic pressure.

Partially purified blueberry polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in Mcllvaine buffer (pH=3.6, typical pH of blueberry juice) was subjected to processing at isothermal-isobaric conditions at temperatures from 30 to 80 °C and pressure from 0.1 to 700 MPa. High pressure processing at 30-50 °C at all pressures studied caused irreversible PPO activity increase with a maximum of 6.1 fold increase at 500 MPa and 30 °C. Treatments at mild pressure-mild temperature conditions (0.1-400 MPa, 60 °C) also caused up to 3 fold PPO activity increase. Initial activity increase followed by a decrease occurred at relatively high pressure-mild temperature (400-600 MPa, 60 °C) and mild pressure-high temperature (0.1-400 MPa, 70-80 °C) combinations. At temperatures higher than 76 °C, monotonic decrease in PPO activity occurred at 0.1 MPa and pressures higher than 500 MPa. The activation/inactivation kinetics of the enzyme was successfully modelled assuming consecutive reactions in series with activation followed by inactivation.

Energy Requirements for Alternative Food Processing Technologies—Principles, Assumptions, and Evaluation of Efficiency

Campylobacter represents one of the leading causes of foodborne enteritis. Poultry and its products frequently transmit the pathogen. The objective of the present study was to model predictively the short-term inactivation of Campylobacter in a ready-to-eat poultry product to develop an economic high-pressure treatment. We inactivated baroresistant strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, grown to stationary phase on nutrient agar and inoculated in poultry meat slurry, by heat and high hydrostatic pressure. Incubation at ambient pressure at 70 degrees C for 1 min and at 450 MPa at 15 degrees C for 30 s inactivated more than 6 log CFU of this foodborne pathogen per ml of poultry meat slurry. Thermal and pressure inactivation kinetics of C. coli and C. jejuni in poultry meat slurry were accurately described by a first-order kinetic model. A mathematical model was developed from 10 to 65 degrees C and from ambient to 500 MPa that predicts the reduction in numbers of Campylobacter in response to the combination of temperature, pressure, and treatment time. We suggest the high-pressure treatment of foods to avoid health risks caused by Campylobacter. The nonthermal short-term treatment of the examined food model system represents a successful step to an economic high-pressure procedure.