PPS Mild preservation
Project highlights and achievements in the field of mild
preservation
June 2017
Why mild preservation?
Quality
Shelf life & safety
 Traditional processing: challenge to maintain fresh
quality and nutrients (e.g. retort sterilisation)
 Novel mild preservation technologies using other
mechanisms than heat give opportunities
Economic impact
Sustainability
Societal impact
-
- Less food waste
- Less energy use
- Less water use
- Improved food
safety
- Enhanced fruit &
veg consumption
Innovation
Competitiveness
New products
New markets
Mild preservation methods
Heat
Microwave heating
Radiofrequency heating
Ohmic heating
Pressure
Electric impulses
Volumetric Matrix effects
Surface
Light
HP sterilisation
HP pasteurisation
Pulsed electric field
processing
Natural additives
Pulsed light
Cold plasma
Combination of technologies
Hurdle technology
Project objectives
 Deliver added value for the food and
technology sector by further development of
mild preservation methods
 Enable implementation of these technologies
by a larger group of end users
 Increase fundamental and applied knowledge
of novel processing to reduce implementation
risks and to create innovations in safe and
sustainable food systems
Realised results
 Development and demonstration of novel
technologies
● Quality, safety and shelf life: HPP, PEF
● Industrial applicable: HPP, PEF, Hurdle
 Design of sustainable production chains based on
novel technologies
● Hurdle, PEF
 Increased insight and knowledge of mechanism,
working and safety of novel technologies:
● PEF, E-cooking, plasma, moulds
Project Partners
Highlight: PEF
 Microbial inactivation using PEF as alternative to heat
 Insight from PPS:
● Impact on microbial inactivation and shelf life
● Impact product properties of PEF efficacy
● Impact on quality aspects: taste, enzymes
 Implemented by project partner in production facility:
● Shelf life from 9 days to 3 wks
 New PEF process developed
● Scalable, large product range
● Microbial inactivation, shelf life and quality
● High innovation potential
Highlight: PEF, microbial inactivation
 Possibilities and limitations of PEF process conditions
Microbial inactivation influenced by:
●
Size and morphology micro-organism
●
Product matrix (pH)
Timmermans et al., 2014. Int. J. Food Microbiology, 173, 105-111
Timmermans et al., 2014. Effost meeting, Uppsala, Sweden
Highlight: PEF, implementation
 Industrial application
Production 5 days per week, max 2 shifts
12 flavours, 48 SKU’s
Shelf life 16 (smoothie) to 21 days (citrus)
Distribution to:
Sweden, Belgium, Baltic states, Austria, Germany,
Netherlands
Retail, foodservice
Juice with same flavour, colour and fragrance as fresh!
Highlight: cold plasma
 Decontamination of surfaces with nitrogen plasma
 Insight from PPS:
● Nitrogen plasma inactivates heat and chemical
resistant spores and vegetative cells
● Distinctive morphological change upon plasma
exposure compared to UV, heat and ClO- ,
suggesting a specific mode of action
 Promising technology for future application on food
and food packaging material
 Currently done by project partners:
● Scaling up: reducing treatment time
● Application for aseptic packaging systems
Inactivation of bacterial spores by NCAP
0
logN/N0
5
Exposure (min)
10
15
0
-1
Spores on filters
-2
-3
-4
Inactivation of both heat and chemical
-5
resistant spores.
-6
Van Bokhorst et al. (2015) Food Microbiology
-7
-8
B. cereus
B. atrophaeus
G. stearothermophilus
untreated
N2 control
plasma
Membrane with
sample
plasma
flame
nozzle
Nitrogen
gas feed
high voltage
power supply
Electrical power 3W
Exposure to nitrogen plasma
affects Bacillus cereus spore
morphology
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Highlight: high pressure sterilisation
 HPS: pressure and temperature for sterilisation
 Start of PPS:
● Scientific research results available for effects on
e.g. micro-organisms, ingredients, packaging
 Insight from PPS:
● Need for T sensor: prototype developed, currently
continued in EU project
● Need for good product samples: research on
complex food products
● Need for integration with pretreatment/preheating
 Currently concluded by project partners:
● Need for integrated pilot line on semi-industrial
scale (100-500 kg) to study benefits of technology
Highlight: HPS, product research
 Comparison at equivalent conditions (e.g. same F0
value)
 Research focussed on vegetables that with current
technologies are difficult to sterilise
 Some examples:
HPS (700 MPa, 3 min) + additives
fresh
Melon-banana-red pepper-smoothie
PATS
CS
Outlook: dissemination
 Presentation and posters at conferences
 Workshops
 Training of senior inspectors of NVWA
 Training mild preservation for (groups) of companies
Outlook: dissemination
 Scientific papers
 Scientific books
 Professional journals
 Popular journals
More publications expected in 2017
Peer reviewed basis for knowledge
on mild preservation
Implementation of mild preservation
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Outlook: recommendations
 Industrial partners essential for technology development:
● Technology provider & users jointly specify needs
● Focus on practical pre-competitive challenges
 Early involvement of NVWA very valuable:
● Research topics, e.g. safety & knowledge transfer
 International cooperation essential:
● International partners in project
● Presentations at conferences and workshops
● Specific networks and projects:
 Combination of technologies in one project worked well
Thank you!
More information:
Ariette Matser
[email protected]
+31 317 4080121
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