Application of an innovative water-assisted ultraviolet C light technology for the inactivation of microorganisms in tomato processing industries
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Date
2021
Authors
Abadias i Sero, Mª Isabel
Colás Medà, Pilar
Viñas Almenar, Inmaculada
Bobo, Gloria
Aguiló-Aguayo, Ingrid
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Abstract
We aimed to study the efficacy of a water-assisted UVC light device (WUVC) as an innovative clean technology
for the disinfection of fresh sound tomatoes and processing wash water and water turbidity was evaluated as a
critical parameter. First, wash waters with different turbidities (from 0.4 to 828 NTU) were inoculated with
Listeria innocua and treated in the WUVC device at different dosages. Secondly, fresh tomatoes, inoculated with
L. innocua and non-inoculated ones, were treated using the WUVC device containing wash water of different
turbidities for different times. The reduction of L. innocua populations on wash water and on the surface of
tomato was influenced by turbidity; lower reduction values were observed at higher turbidities. Washing tomatoes
with tap water with UVC lamps off (control treatment, TW) decreased L. innocua population on the
surface of tomatoes but did not eliminate those bacteria that went into the water. Contrarily, when UVC lights
were on, L. innocua population in wash water after treatment significantly decreased, those in clean water being
the lowest populations. Reductions of native microbiota on the clean water treated with the highest UV-C radiation
dose were lower than those obtained when tomatoes were artificially inoculated. We demonstrated that
high reductions of L. innocua population on fresh tomatoes could be achieved using the WUVC system but some
drawbacks related to the increase of turbidity should be solved for its implementation in real conditions.
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Food Microbiology, 2021, vol. 94, p. 103631