Evaluating the Contamination of Some Iranian most Consumed Spices and Reduction of Microbial Load by UV Radiation

Subject Areas : Food Microbial Contamination

Behrouz Akbari ¹ , Faezeh Shirkhan ² , Masumeh Sam Nejad ³

1 - Food & Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran
2 - Food Science and Technology Department, Medical Sciences University, Islamic Azad University, Tehran
3 - Food Science and Technology Department, Medical Sciences University, Islamic Azad University, Tehran

Received: 2020-12-27 Accepted : 2021-03-27 Published : 2021-11-22

Keywords: Spice, Decontamination, microbial contamination, Ultraviolet irradiation,

Abstract :

Spices may be contaminated during various stages of harvesting, drying or transporting. Different methods are used to reduce the microbial level of spices, which has problems such as flavor changes. The purpose of this study was to introduce optimized condition for UV-radiation on the reduction of microbial load of some high-consumption spices. Six types of spices including turmeric, ginger, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon and sumac were sampled from Tehran market. Tests were carried out based on reference standards. Infected spices were then exposed to ultraviolet cabinets at 254 nm in thicknesses of 1, 5, 10 mm and 15, 10, and 5 minutes. Microbial test was performed on irradiated samples. According to the results, It was revealed that the time factor on the total count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria of turmeric, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, and also on the coliform count of turmeric and red pepper, as well as on the count of mold of turmeric, red pepper and black pepper had quite significant effect (P