En esta Monografia se trata el tema de la utilizacion del cloro y sus compuestos como medio de alcanzar los requisitos sanitarios que deben cumplir las aguas utilizadas en la industria alimentaria. Se explica la terminologia empleada en cloracion asi como la quimica del cloro en el agua y su comportamiento en funcion de Ph y temperatura. Se ejemplifican distintos sistemas de cloracion y finalmente se hace referencia a un posible programa de control de la cloracion en planta y a metodos analiticos para la evaluacion del cloro activo.

En esta Monografia se trata el tema de la utilizacion del cloro y sus compuestos como medio de alcanzar los requisitos sanitarios que deben cumplir las aguas utilizadas en la industria alimentaria. Se explica la terminologia empleada en cloracion asi como la quimica del cloro en el agua y su comportamiento en funcion de Ph y temperatura. Se ejemplifican distintos sistemas de cloracion y finalmente se hace referencia a un posible programa de control de la cloracion en planta y a metodos analiticos para la evaluacion del cloro activo.

Protozoan parasites can survive under ambient and refrigerated storage conditions when associated with a range of substrates. Consequently, various treatments have been used to inactivate protozoan parasites (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora) in food, water, and environmental systems. Physical treatments that affect survival or removal of protozoan parasites include freezing, heating, filtration, sedimentation, UV light, irradiation, high pressure, and ultrasound. Ozone is a more effective chemical disinfectant than chlorine or chlorine dioxide for inactivation of protozoan parasites in water systems. However, sequential inactivation treatments can optimize existing treatments through synergistic effects. Careful selection of methods to evaluate inactivation treatments is needed because many studies that have employed vital dye stains and in vitro excystation have produced underestimations of the effectiveness of these treatments.

Electrolyzed oxidizing water (EOW) can be considered in the agrofood industry as a new antimicrobial agent with disinfectant, detoxifying, and shelf-life improvement properties. EOW is produced by electrolysis of water, with no added chemicals, except for sodium chloride. The antifungal and detoxifying mechanisms of EOW depend mainly on: pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and available chlorine concentration (ACC). EOW offers many advantages over other conventional chemical methods, including less adverse chemical residues, safe-handling, secure, energy-saving, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly. As a result, EOW could be used for the development of safer and more socially acceptable methods for fungi decontamination and mycotoxin detoxification. This review contains an overview of EOW effectiveness to decontaminate non-toxigenic and mycotoxigenic fungi, its safety and efficacy for mycotoxin detoxification, the proposed mechanism of action of EOW on fungal cells, and the chemical mechanism of action of EOW on mycotoxins. Finally, conclusions and future research necessities are also outlined.

Chlorine is a widely used disinfectant and oxidant used for an array of municipal and industrial applications, including potable water, swimming pools, and cleaning of membranes. The most popular method to verify the concentration of free chlorine is the colorimetric method based on DPD (N, N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine), which is fast and reasonably cheap, but DPD and its product are potentially toxic. Therefore, a novel, environmentally friendly colorimetric method for the quantification of residual chlorine based on the food additive pyridoxamine (4-(aminomethyl)-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpyridin-3-ol) was investigated. Pyridoxamine is a B6 vitamin with an absorption maximum at 324 nm and fluorescence emission at 396 nm. Pyridoxamine reacts rapidly and selectively with free chlorine, resulting in a linear decrease both in absorbance and in emission, giving therefore calibration curves with a negative slope. The pyridoxamine method was successfully applied for the quantification of free chlorine from 0.2 to 250 mg/L. Using 1 cm cuvettes, the limit of quantification was 0.12 mg Cl₂/L. The pyridoxamine and the DPD methods were applied to actual environmental samples, and the deviation between results was between 4% and 9%. While pyridoxamine does not react with chloramine, quantification of monochloramine was possible when iodide was added, but the reaction is unfavourably slow.

Standard-molded, one piece O-ring food processing plant gaskets (1.5 in or 36.1 mm diameter) made of seven different substances (Buna N, white Buna N, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), polyethylene, silicone rubber, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene or Teflon) and steam-resistant Viton) were treated with chlorine sanitizer or ozonated water. After treatment, only very slight differences were noted visually between control and treated gaskets. Measurements indicated that ozone treatment affected the tensile strength of EPDM and Viton, but not significantly more than chlorine treatment. The tensile strengths of other gasket materials were not significantly affected by ozone treatment. The elasticity of ozone-treated PTFE gaskets was significantly different from chlorine-treated PTFE gaskets. Other gasket materials were not significantly affected by ozone treatment.

The efficacy of electrolyzed water (EW) to inactivate Listeria monocytogenes on stainless steel surfaces was evaluated and modelled in the present study. L. monocytogenes was inoculated on stainless steel coupons and subsequently subjected to Neutral EW (NEW, pH = 7.0) and Slightly Acid EW (SAEW, pH = 5.0) with different Available Chlorine Concentration (ACC, 50–200 mg/L) for different exposure times (0–6 min). The number of viable cells on coupons decreased as the exposure time increased at all ACC concentrations. Treatments with SAEW resulted in higher reductions of L. monocytogenes, i.e., 2.30 ± 0.16 to 5.64 ± 0.11 log cfu/cm², in comparison with NEW treatments (1.55 ± 0.11 to 5.22 ± 0.12 log cfu/cm²), probably due to the synergistic bactericidal effect between the acidic pH, higher oxidation-reduction potential and the effective form of chlorine, reported in previous studies. Since SAEW was the most effective against L. monocytogenes, two approaches were tested to model the survival data: the one- and two-step modelling procedures. The Weibull model was suitable to describe the survival data and both approaches produced suitable survival models (adj-R²>0.92 and MSE<0.2). EW is effective in reducing bacterial contamination on food-contact surfaces and the survival data and models derived from this study are relevant to optimize its use as an environment-friendly sanitizer in the food industry.

To determine the efficacy of electrolysed oxidizing (EO) water in inactivating Vibrio parahaemolyticus on kitchen cutting boards and food contact surfaces. Cutting boards (bamboo, wood and plastic) and food contact surfaces (stainless steel and glazed ceramic tile) were inoculated with V. parahaemolyticus. Viable cells of V. parahaemolyticus were detected on all cutting boards and food contact surfaces after 10 and 30 min, respectively, at room temperatures. Soaking inoculated food contact surfaces and cutting boards in distilled water for 1 and 3 min, respectively, resulted in various reductions of V. parahaemolyticus, but failed to remove the organism completely from surfaces. However, the treatment of EO water [pH 2·7, chlorine 40 ppm, oxidation-reduction potential 1151 mV] for 30, 45, and 60 s, completely inactivated V. parahaemolyticus on stainless steel, ceramic tile, and plastic cutting boards, respectively. EO water could be used as a disinfecting agent for inactivating V. parahaemolyticus on plastic and wood cutting boards and food contact surfaces. Rinsing the food contact surfaces with EO water or soaking cutting boards in EO water for up to 5 min could be a simple strategy to reduce cross-contamination of V. parahaemolyticus during food preparation.

Previous studies have confirmed that electrolyzed water had disinfection potential and enrich functional nutrients during seed germination. However, the effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) on the quality and safety of peanut sprouts is poorly understood. In this study, the influence and mechanism of SAEW on the antibacterial, antioxidant capacity, and allergenicity of peanut sprouts were investigated. Although SAEW‐3 with 33.85 mg/L available chlorine concentration (ACC) showed better antibacterial effect, the SAEW‐2 (23.74 mg/L ACC) group has a 20% and 50% increase in phenolic acid and γ‐aminobutyric acid content, respectively. Moreover, SAEW‐2 induced peanut sprout has the best antioxidant capacity by eliminating free radicals and improving peroxidase activity. SAEW‐2 or SAEW‐3 treatment contributed to decreasing Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 content thus reduce allergenicity. Therefore, SAEW with appropriate ACC could be a promising application in food safety, nutrients enrichment, and health‐improvement of peanut products. NOVELTY IMPACT STATEMENT: Slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) with 23.74 mg/L available chlorine concentration (ACC) has a significant positive effect on the enrichment of phenolic and γ‐aminobutyric acid in germinated peanut. With the help of SAEW, the germination process can further reduce the content of Ara h 1 and Ara h 2, thereby reducing allergenicity. SAEW with appropriate ACC could be a promising application in food safety, nutrients enrichment, and health‐improvement of peanut products.

The disinfection efficacy of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) has been recognized in food industry. However, the application of single SAEW limited its disinfection potential. The efficacy of the two-step disinfection with SAEW for the reduction of L. monocytogenes contamination on different food raw materials was evaluated compared to the one-step disinfection with SAEW in this study. Results demonstrated that SAEW could reduce both the natural aerobic bacterial count and inoculated L. monocytogenes population on endive and chicken immediately after processing and SAEW with approximately 60 mg/L of available chlorine concentration (ACC) had equal or higher antibacterial efficacy compared to NaClO solutions with approximately 150 mg/L of ACC. Moreover, SAEW treatments could control the growth of microbial populations of L. monocytogenes during storage and the efficacy on the microbial reduction was associated to the initial populations. In addition, the SAEW-treated food raw materials were stored and disinfected again after storage and the results showed that the two-step disinfection method could decrease the survival populations of L. monocytogenes by 24.8%–99.6% compared to the one-step disinfection of SAEW. Therefore, considering storage habits, the two-step disinfection of SAEW may be a better choice in the disinfection of non-consumed-directly food raw materials.