Electro-activated aqueous solutions: Theory and application in the food industry and biotechnology

Study of the combined effect of electro-activated solutions and heat treatment on the destruction of spores of Clostridium sporogenes and Geobacillus stearothermophilus in model solution and vegetable puree

“…The fact that electro-activation has been found to have no discernable side effects on the human body and the immediate environment, this procedure found important applications in food industry such as lactose isomerization whereas the same result is generally obtained with conventional technology [15], baking wheat bread [16], activation of enzymes [17], activation of antioxidant enzymes [18]. Furthermore, the most vital application of EAS involves inactivation of microorganisms at a large scale [19], including viruses and biofilms [13]. It is known that vegetative cells of C. botulinum are very sensitive to pH below 4.5, an oxidative redox potential and the presence of oxygen in the medium [20].…”

“…In this way, it is possible to use a combination of nonthermal and compositional parameters to ensure the safety of food products. A similar and feasible approach for the canning industry could be the combined application of thermal treatment and electro-activation technology, recently recommended as a strong antimicrobial method finding wide applications in food and biotechnology industry due to its low cost and ease of application [13].…”

“…The technology of electro-activation is based on a phenomenon called modulated (controlled) electrolysis which requires the aqueous solution to be subjected to the effect of an external electric field in an electrochemical reactor [13]. The reactor is composed of three compartments with two ion exchange membranes placed to separate the solutions in the anode, central and cathode compartments.…”

“…The authors observed that after excitation by an external electric field, the reactivity of EAS was significantly increased suggesting that this phenomenon uses the vibrational spectrum of water [13]. The fact that electro-activation has been found to have no discernable side effects on the human body and the immediate environment, this procedure found important applications in food industry such as lactose isomerization whereas the same result is generally obtained with conventional technology [15], baking wheat bread [16], activation of enzymes [17], activation of antioxidant enzymes [18].…”

“…with 1 min heating at 30 °C with A2 and A6 solutions (dilute ratio 1:100), while the solution A3 and A4, differing by their properties demonstrated C. sporogenes spore destruction > 4.5 log in 15 minutes at 90 °C.The physicochemical nature of ECAS is not clearly understood, but based on recent investigations the most activated form of EAS is obtained near-electrode interface, where the aqueous systems are in a metastable state, making them highly reactive and useful in physicochemical and biological reactions[13]. The physiochemical properties of EAS depend upon the parameters of the treatment in electrochemical cell, where solutions that occur at the anode interface have proven bactericidal activity resulting from the formation of HOCl, which is considered to be the primary antimicrobial agent[41].…”