Location: Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research
Project Number: 8072-41420-021-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Feb 10, 2016
End Date: Feb 9, 2021
Objective:
1: Further studies on the ARS-patented use of RFP for shell eggs through the development of pilot plant and commercial prototypes of continuous RFP equipment for multiple eggs.
2: Further studies on the use of innovative technologies to reduce microorganisms on fresh produce, and minimally preserved, brined, and fresh-cut refrigerated vegetables.
3: Evaluate the use of biochars to reduce pathogens in manures, compost, and soils used for the production of fresh (both conventional and organic) produce.
Approach:
A pilot plant-scale radio frequency pasteurization (RFP) unit will be developed, capable of continuously processing multiple shell eggs. Initial efforts will use a 60 MHz RFP unit similar to the unit used to write the ARS patent. The single-egg RFP unit is capable of pasteurizing shell eggs with significantly better quality than industry eggs (currently pasteurized using hot water immersion). RFP operating parameters will be optimized, while experimental factors to be investigated will include cooling water flow rate, cooling water conductivity, cooling water temperature, and amount and duration of RF power applied. Equally important for reducing pasteurization operating costs is reducing equipment costs. To this end, we will study egg roller minimum rotation speed, and feasibility of adjusting frequency to 40.68 MHz, which is within the radio band internationally reserved for industrial, scientific and medical purposes. Optimized RF operating and equipment costs will be estimated. Quality and functionality characteristics of RFP eggs will be evaluated. The RFP process will be scaled up by developing RF power supplies, matching networks, and power distribution schemes to evenly heat hundreds of egg simultaneously. Finally, a continuous RFP pilot plant unit will be designed and assembled, which will convey eggs through the unit. To reduce microorganisms on fresh and fresh-cut vegetables, several innovative technologies will be researched. The ability of novel washes, developed during the previous project cycle, to remove pathogenic biofilms will be investigated. Bacterial cell surface charges will be determined using hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction chromatography. Also, the occurrence of sublethal injury to pathogens, following treatment with the produce wash, will be determined. The previously-developed antimicrobial wash will be improved with additional ingredients and pH adjustment. Wet steam technology has been successfully applied to cantaloupes, and will be extended to other produce. Finally, pilot plant scale testing of the produce intervention technologies will be conducted and costs of applying them estimated. In order to evaluate the use of biochars to reduce pathogens in manures, compost, and soils, non-pathogenic bacteria will be validated as surrogates for pathogenic bacteria in soil and manure survival studies with biochar. Antimicrobial efficacy of biochar will be optimized by adjusting production time and temperature as well as by comparing various biofeedstocks. The optimized biochar will be evaluated to determine its potential to inactivate surrogate bacteria in compost, in lab and greenhouse settings as well as in scaled-up field experiments. Cost estimates for applying lethal doses of the optimized biochar to compost and fields will be determined.
