Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.
Food Res Int. 2022 Jul;157:111393. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111393. Epub 2022 May 24.
Fine ground black pepper generally consumed as a seasoning without any further processing has been associated with Salmonella enterica outbreaks. Thermal inactivation kinetics data is necessary to develop a pasteurization process for fine ground black pepper. This study investigates the influence of temperature and water activity on thermal inactivation kinetics of Salmonella in fine ground black pepper. It also assesses the suitability of Enterococcus faecium as a surrogate for Salmonella. Fine ground black pepper of varying water activities, a (0.40, 0.55, 0.70) was subjected to isothermal treatments at different temperatures (65-80 °C) for five equidistant time points with intervals ranging from 18 s to 250 min. The survival data were used to fit two primary models (log-linear and Weibull) and two secondary models (response surface and Modified Bigelow). Results indicated that among the two primary models, the Weibull model explained the thermal inactivation kinetics better with lower RMSE (0.24 - 0.56 log CFU/g) and AIC values at all a and temperatures. Water activity and treatment temperature significantly enhanced the thermal inactivation of Salmonella. E. faecium NRRL B-2354 was found to be a suitable surrogate for Salmonella in fine ground black pepper at all tested treatment conditions. The developed modified Bigelow model based on the Weibull model could be applied to predict the inactivation kinetics of Salmonella in black pepper and would benefit the spice industry in identifying process parameters for thermal pasteurization of fine ground black pepper.
细磨黑胡椒通常作为调味品食用，无需进一步加工，但已与肠炎沙门氏菌疫情有关。需要热失活动力学数据来开发细磨黑胡椒的巴氏杀菌工艺。本研究调查了温度和水活度对细磨黑胡椒中沙门氏菌热失活动力学的影响。它还评估了屎肠球菌作为沙门氏菌替代物的适用性。不同水活度（0.40、0.55、0.70）的细磨黑胡椒在不同温度（65-80°C）下进行等温处理，每个温度下有五个等距时间点，时间间隔从 18 秒到 250 分钟不等。生存数据用于拟合两种主要模型（对数线性和 Weibull）和两种次要模型（响应面和 Modified Bigelow）。结果表明，在两种主要模型中，Weibull 模型在所有 a 和温度下，通过更低的 RMSE（0.24-0.56 log CFU/g）和 AIC 值更好地解释了热失活动力学。水活度和处理温度显著增强了沙门氏菌的热失活动力学。在所有测试的处理条件下，屎肠球菌 NRRL B-2354 被发现是细磨黑胡椒中沙门氏菌的合适替代物。基于 Weibull 模型开发的改良 Bigelow 模型可用于预测黑胡椒中沙门氏菌的失活动力学，这将有利于香料行业确定细磨黑胡椒热巴氏杀菌的工艺参数。
