Pulsed Light Treatments for Food Preservation. A Review

Abstract

Consumers demand high-quality processed foods with minimal changes in nutritional and sensory properties. Nonthermal methods are considered to keep food quality attributes better than traditional thermal processing. Pulsed light (PL) is an emerging nonthermal technology for decontamination of food surfaces and food packages, consisting of short time high-peak pulses of broad spectrum white light. It is considered an alternative to continuous ultraviolet light treatments for solid and liquid foods. This paper provides a general review of the principles, mechanisms of microbial inactivation, and applications of PL treatments on foods. Critical process parameters that are needed to be optimized for a better efficiency of PL treatments are also discussed. PL has considerable potential to be implemented in the food industry. However, technological problems need to be solved in order to avoid food overheating as well as to achieve better penetration and treatment homogeneity. In addition, a more extensive research is needed to understand how PL affects quality food attributes.

Human Astroviruses

“…However, genogroup B is somewhat more resistant to chlorine disinfection than genogroup A (215), suggesting that differences in environmental persistence may exist between strains. Astrovirus survival and inactivation in food matrices have not been extensively studied, probably because only a few HAstV food-borne outbreaks have been described (207,298) and because efforts have been dedicated to the application of emerging technologies for the inactivation of other viral agents, such as norovirus and hepatitis A virus (299,300). Regarding disinfection of contaminated fomites, 90% alcohol has been proved useful (301).…”

Enhanced Antioxidant Capacity of Fresh Blueberries by Pulsed Light Treatment

“…Novel technologies such as PL have been used as an alternative to thermal processing of foods (Oms-Oliu et al, 2010). It is well known that foods treated with high temperatures are susceptible to thermal degradation, which may result in undesirable changes to their organoleptic and physiochemical properties.…”

Impact of Packaging Materials on Quality of Fresh Cut Pineapple Using Biopreservative to Ensure Safety

“…According to the institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) 10 6 CFU/g is considered the limit of acceptance of fruit based products during the study of shelf life (Bierhals, 2011). Fresh cut fruit have a large area of cut surface with high moisture conditions and a rich source of nutrients, which provides a good environment for growth of microorganisms (Oms-Oliu et al, 2010). Results obtained in this study showed the total plate count of bacterial and fungi increased during storage.…”