Inactivation of food-borne pathogens by combined high hydrostatic pressure and irradiation- a model study

Application of radiation or high pressure as a food processing method is comparatively recent development in food industry. To investigate the response to hydrostatic pressure, cells of pathogens at logarithmic phase were exposed to 200 MPa for various time intervals in saline as model system. The cells of Salmonella were observed to be most sensitive whereas Listeria monocytogenes were most resistant as revealed by 7 and 2 log cycle inactivation respectively in 10 min. The cells of Bacillus cereus and Yersinia enterocolitica showed 3 long cycles reduction by the same treatment. Bacterial spores because of their resistant nature, are inactivated only at high radiation doses, which are technologically unfeasible. Studies carried out to examine the effectiveness of combination of pressure and radiation clearly suggested that combination treatment given in either sequence reduces the bacterial spore load more effectively than the individual treatment per se. (author)