Understanding the Influence of Water Properties on Microbial Inactivation during Processing of Low-Moisture Foods

最近发生的一些与低水分食品(如牛肉干、谷物粉、调味料、花生酱)中的微生物病原体有关的全球暴发和召回事件，导致食品行业和研究界对低水分食品安全的担忧增加。沙门氏菌等细菌病原体。可以在低水分食物中长时间存活。为了减少低水分食品中的这些病原体，食品工业中使用了不同的加工技术，如蒸汽和射频加热。冷等离子体是一种新的先进的潜在技术，目前正在研究实验室进行评估，以了解其抗菌效果。几个产品和工艺因素会影响这些技术在减少病原体方面的效果。在这些因素中，水的存在是最具影响力的因素之一。 这项研究计划的总体目标是增强我们对产品和工艺相关的水性质如何影响低水分食品中微生物灭活的知识。这些参数包括沙门氏菌细胞中的水分活度(Aw)、玻璃化转变温度(Tg)和蛋白质迁移率，以及加工过程中周围环境的相对湿度。这项研究计划的长期目标是改进热处理和开发冷等离子体处理，以提高低水分食品的安全性。中心假设是，热和冷等离子体处理的抗菌效果强烈地受到与产品和工艺相关的水性质的影响。 在短期内，具体目标是：1)了解Aw对热和冷等离子体处理的抗菌效果的影响；2)阐明Aw与其他与水相关的基本性质之间的相互关系；3)了解水的性质对热和冷等离子体处理过程中细菌灭活机制的影响。我将开发一种新的“芯片上治疗”的方法，使用工程芯片来研究在低水分环境下治疗微生物病原体过程中的上述因素。我将考虑有或没有食品的病原体，以了解食品在热和冷等离子体处理过程中对失活速度和机制的相互作用。沙门氏菌暴发相关菌株及鸡尾酒。将被用作目标微生物。 这项研究将提供对主要产品的更深入的了解-以及

A number of recent global outbreaks and recalls related to microbial pathogens in low-moisture foods (e.g., beef jerky, grain flours, ground spices, peanut butter) have resulted in increased concerns within the food industry and research community about low-moisture food safety. Bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella spp. can survive in low-moisture foods for extended periods of time. To reduce these pathogens in low-moisture foods, different processing technologies such as steam and radio-frequency heating are used in the food industry. Cold plasma is a recent advanced potential technology, currently being evaluated at research laboratories to understand its antimicrobial efficacy. Several product- and process-factors influence the efficacy of these technologies in pathogen reduction. Among these factors, the presence of water is one of the most influential. The overall aim of this research program is to enhance our knowledge of how product- and process-related water properties impact microbial inactivation in low-moisture foods. These include water activity (aw), glass transition temperature (Tg) and protein mobility in Salmonella cells and relative humidity of the surrounding environment during processing. The long term objective of this research program is to improve thermal and develop cold plasma treatments to enhance low-moisture food safety. The central hypothesis is that the antimicrobial efficacy of thermal and cold plasma treatments is strongly influenced by product- and process-related water properties. In the short term, the specific objectives are to: 1) Understand the effect of aw on antimicrobial efficacy of thermal and cold plasma treatments, 2) Elucidate the interrelationship between aw and other fundamental water-related properties, 3) Understand the influence of water properties on bacterial inactivation mechanisms during thermal and cold plasma treatments. I will develop novel “Treatment-on-a-chip” approach using engineered microchips to study the above-mentioned factors during treatments of microbial pathogens at low-moisture environments. I will consider pathogens with or without a food product to understand the interaction of food product on the rate and mechanisms of inactivation during thermal and cold plasma treatments. Outbreak-related strains and cocktails of Salmonella spp. will be used as target microorganisms. This research will provide an enhanced understanding of the main product- and