Tannir Hana, Debs Espérance, Mansour Georges, Neugart Susanne, El Hage Rima, Khalil Mahmoud I, El Darra Nada, Louka Nicolas
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Beirut P.O. Box 11-5020, Lebanon.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Balamand, Tripoli P.O. Box 100, Lebanon.
Foods. 2024 Jul 18;13(14):2264. doi: 10.3390/foods13142264.
Cumin seeds are frequently utilized in herbal infusions and as flavoring agents in home cuisine. Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that spices are frequently contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, including bacterial spores. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new decontamination method called "Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum" (IVDV) on intentionally contaminated seeds. The study also examined the impact of this treatment on the color and oil profile of the treated samples. The untreated samples were inoculated with (ATCC 25922) and Typhimurium (ATCC 14028) and then subjected to IVDV treatment. Response surface methodology was employed to obtain safe, high-quality cumin seeds presenting a balance between microbial load, color, and oil profile. The optimal IVDV conditions were achieved at a pressure of 3.5 bar and a time of 133.45 s, resulting in typical 4 log reductions observed with 99.99% of and Typhimurium inactivation. The treated spices presented a mild color modification compared to the untreated ones, manifested by a darker shade (decreased * value), reduced greenness (increased * value), and heightened yellowness (increased * value). The GC-MS analysis detected the existence of seven compounds in the treated cumin, with cuminaldehyde being the primary compound (83.79%). Furthermore, the use of IVDV treatment resulted in an increase in the total content of essential oils in some samples, whereby six monoterpenes were identified in the untreated sample compared to seven monoterpenes in IVDV-treated samples. This innovative technology demonstrated high efficacy in decontaminating seeds, improving the extractability of the essential oils while only slightly affecting the color.
孜然籽常用于草药浸剂以及家庭烹饪中的调味剂。然而，研究表明香料经常被包括细菌孢子在内的致病细菌污染。本研究的目的是评估一种名为“减压至真空强化汽化”（IVDV）的新去污方法对故意污染的孜然籽的有效性。该研究还考察了这种处理对处理后样品的颜色和油类成分的影响。未处理的样品接种了金黄色葡萄球菌（ATCC 25922）和鼠伤寒沙门氏菌（ATCC 14028），然后进行IVDV处理。采用响应面法以获得安全、高质量的孜然籽，使其在微生物负荷、颜色和油类成分之间达到平衡。在压力为3.5巴、时间为133.45秒时达到了最佳的IVDV条件，金黄色葡萄球菌和鼠伤寒沙门氏菌的灭活率达到99.99%，典型地实现了4个对数级的减少。与未处理的香料相比，处理后的香料颜色有轻微变化，表现为颜色更深（a值降低）、绿色减少（b值增加）和黄色加深（b值增加）。气相色谱 - 质谱分析检测到处理后的孜然中存在七种化合物，其中枯茗醛是主要化合物（83.79%）。此外，使用IVDV处理使一些样品中的精油总含量增加，未处理样品中鉴定出六种单萜，而IVDV处理后的样品中鉴定出七种单萜。这项创新技术在对孜然籽进行去污方面显示出高效性，提高了精油的可提取性，同时对颜色的影响很小。
