Final Report Summary - GREENFOODEC (Development of novel and advanced decontamination<br/>sustainable technologies for the production of high quality dried<br/>herbs and spices)
Executive Summary:
The aim of GREENFOODEC was to set up novel and advanced decontamination technologies, overcoming the limitations of the existing technologies for high quality preservation and microbial decontamination of herbs & spices. The results of the present work are directed to identify which technology is more convenient for each particular product.
The first step followed in the project consisted of the definition of a specific analytical methodology to be applied along the project and the general requirements for the characterisation and inoculation of spices in order to determine the initial quality parameters of model products, biological contamination and expected final properties of the products after the treatments. Both physicochemical and microbial parameters were considered for spices selected at the beginning of the study. Three different products were taken as a reference considering that they should cover on the one hand a broad product variety and on the other hand a high relevance for a potential application. Therefore, as a powder paprika was chosen, whole black pepper should represent all kinds of seeds and oregano a leafy heat sensitive herb.
In a second step, the different proposed technologies were applied to the above mentioned products previously selected by the SMEs participating in the project. The aim of this step consisted of the application of new methods for microbial disinfection of herbs and spices based on the following alternative/emerging technologies: High Pressure Carbone Dioxide combined with ultrasounds, Cold plasma, Microwave and Infrared heating. Naturally contaminated samples and inoculated samples with previously defined inoculation protocols were used for the development of the decontamination solutions. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of the different treatments on the elimination of the microbial contamination and to verify the final quality of the products in comparison with steam treated products. Different prototypes of the treated samples were supplied to the SMEs for the verification of the desired quality of the same.
Thirdly, according to the microbial and sensorial characterisation of the samples the most suitable conditions for the decontamination of each product was identified for the tested technologies. As a summary, indirect plasma was found the most convenient for the treatment of whole black pepper, an ultrasound assisted high pressure carbon dioxide for the treatment of paprika powder and microwave and infrared heating for the treatment of oregano. In accordance to these results, special attention was put into the hurdles limiting the transfer of the proposed technologies to an industrial process and the challenges that might be met when transferring some of the needed equipment to industrial scale. Then a description of research needs for a further development/commercialisation of the chosen product/process combinations was given and a first economic evaluation for each process.
Next, a study of shelf life of high water content food products for the validation of the novel decontamination technologies was performed by adding in high water content food products herb/spices treated with the novel decontamination technologies which were compared to the addition of untreated herb/spices, and to the addition of conventional steam treated herb/spices.
Finally two main results were obtained after the development of the project. The first one is a technical guide focused on the assessment of new processing solutions for the decontamination of herbs and spices and on the research on technical and economic aspects related to the industrial application of the novel technologies of the study. The second result is the Book of Methods to assess the quality of spices and herbs. This document describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline of methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices. Both documents are attached in the following report.
Project Context and Objectives:
The EU market is the second largest market for seasonings, spices and herbs in the world, accounting for € 1.2 billion. Apparent consumption of part of the spices and herbs described in the CBI market survey (2010) increased from 321 thousand tonnes in 2004 to 336 thousand tonnes in 2008, indicating moderate average annual growth. The leading consuming EU markets are the UK, Germany, Romania and Hungary, together accounting for 58%. CBI (2010)
Few spices are produced in the EU. According to FAOSTAT data (2009), total EU production of spices amounted to 120 thousand tonnes in 2008, of which 63% consisted of paprika, chillies & allspice, for the largest part produced in Hungary and Romania. The production of spice seeds accounted for 33% and the remaining 4% was other spices.
Eurostat (2009) reports on the production of officinal herbs, aromatic plants and plants for seasoning. The largest EU producers are Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland and Hungary. While Bulgaria and Germany experienced average annual declines, the other larger producers saw their production increase.
The EU is a net importer of spices and herbs. A large part of the EU export trade consists of spices and herbs which have been imported in bulk or in crude form and which, following grinding, processing and/or repackaging, are re-exported to other EU and overseas markets.
The consumption of spices and herbs can be divided into three end-user segments: the industrial, the retail and the catering sector. In almost all EU countries the industrial sector consumes the largest proportion, accounting for 55-60% of the total usage of spices and herbs. The retail sector consumes 35-40% and the catering sector 10-15%.
Important trends influencing the EU market for spices and herbs are:
- Increased demand for convenience food requires the food industry to add the required flavours and has led to an extensive range of ready-to-use spice mixes.
- The trend towards internationalisation and increasing consumption of ethnic foods has created growing interest in spices.
- European consumers have a strongly increased interest in a healthy lifestyle and, consequently, in the consumption of health food.
- The market for organic food as well as Fair Trade food is increasing.
Consumers are the key element in the success of any agrifood sector because their needs, habits and preferences will determine the strategy to be followed by the food industry. Consumer needs for more convenient food products are the reason for the constant increase of RTE foods and meals. The development and production of RTE meals of high quality is still a challenge for food industry due to microbial as well as product quality reasons. Thus, having herbs & spices microbiological safe and of high quality can contribute to significantly improve these meals and meet the culinary excellence required by consumers.
Consumers are nowadays more aware of different issues as safety and food quality, sustainability, respect for the environment and of course of nutritional and sensory aspects of the products they consume. Therefore, companies work more and more to meet the demands of consumers, raising the creation of safety, quality and traceability systems as well as seeking for new technologies to ensure product safety. As a consequence these new trends have meant that some traditionally applied technologies, such as thermal treatments or chemical treatments of preservation, are being replaced by alternatives with more respect to the environment, energy saving, with better sensory quality and with higher nutritious value in products.
The herbs & spices industry is no stranger to this situation, in fact after the collection of the raw material these are subjected to different treatments, as well as other vegetable products, to reduce its water activity and to slow down the degradation of the active compounds and aromas. This stabilization stage is followed by conditioning methods (disinfection, grinding and packaging) prior their marketing.
Nevertheless, the above treatments are insufficient to avoid the biological contamination, and while they don’t show any apparent alteration, the superficial layers of herbs & spices are usually contaminated. In fact, as with many other agricultural products, herbs and spices may be exposed to a wide range of microbial contaminants before, during and post-harvest (McKee, 1995; Koci-Tanackov et al., 2007). Although used in small quantities, herbs and spices are recognized as significant carriers of microbial contamination primarily xerophilic storage molds and some bacteria (Dimic et al., 2000; Romagnoli et al., 2007).
Often, contaminants are aerobic bacteria, sporulated bacteria, moulds, and some cases also revealed the presence of coliform bacteria and Salmonella (Lehmacher et al., 1995; Hara-Kudo et al. 2006; Vij et al., 2006; Sagoo et al., 2009). The most frequent fungal contaminants of spices are species from the genus Aspergillus and Penicillium. Some species that belong to these genuses are known as potential producers of different toxic substances such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins and sterigmatocystine, i.e. mycotoxins that exhibit toxic, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects in humans and animals (Erdogan, 2004; Romagnoli et al., 2007; Suncica et al. 2007). The initial level of bacterial contamination depends basically on the hygienic handling conditions of the country of origin and the treatment they have undergone.
During the last decade of the 20th century, food-borne infections and intoxication due to spices increased in several European countries (Buckenhüskes et al., 2004;Jackson et al., 1995). There are no microbiological standards for dried spices in European Community legislation. However, the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice specifies that dried spices should be free from pathogenic microorganisms at levels that may represent a hazard to health and requires that Salmonella spp. should be absent in treated, ready-to-eat spices (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 1995). The European Spice Association (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) Recommendation 2004/24/EC also specify that Salmonella spp. should be absent in 25 g of spice (ESA, 2007), Escherichia coli must be less than 102 cfu g-1, and other bacteria requirements should be agreed between the buyer and the seller (Muggeridge et al., 2001).
Studies on the microbiology of these commodities have shown the presence of high microbial total counts (up to 8 log CFU g-1 in black pepper, paprika, chilli powder and cumin seeds (Baxter and Holzapfel, 1982; Bhat et al., 1987; McKee, 1995). Thus, herbs and spices may provide a conduit to introduce food spoilage organisms to a range of meals (Garcia et al., 2001). When added to high moisture foods, low levels of microbial contamination in herbs and spices may develop quickly causing the food to deteriorate.
The most effective ways to decontaminate dried food powders, at an industrial scale are chemical treatments, like ethylene oxide fumigation and gamma irradiation. However, these processes have very strong disadvantages. The use of ethylene oxide was prohibited by an EU directive in 1991 and has been banned in a number of other countries because of its carcinogenic by-products. In addition, the use of chemical preservatives is tightly regulated for these products, so it is not a clear solution. On the other hand, gamma irradiation effectively kills micro-organisms and can be used practically on a commercial scale. However, this treatment is not always accepted by consumers and enterprises and is not allowed in all countries (Schweiggert et al., 2007). Finally, steam treatment is extensively used in the European herbs & spices industry. There are different industrial steam treatments on the market, which are used to decontaminate herbs or spices by means of either the high-temperature short-time (HTST) or low-temperature long-time (LTLT) principle. Thus, the application of this method is sometimes associated with discoloration and reduction of volatile oil contents (Almela et al., 2002) and an increased aw in the final product.
A need of scientific base knowledge exists in the sector regarding possible alternative, reliable methodologies for herbs & spices decontamination, which inactivates microorganisms and maintains or even improves the intrinsic quality of the raw materials. Therefore, it was found necessary to develop alternative processing technologies to decontaminate spices & herbs.
To solve the mentioned limitations, GREENFOODEC focused on four novel technologies: High pressure CO2 combined with ultrasound (HPCD+US), cold plasma (CP), and electromagnetic energy (microwave (MW) and infrared irradiation (IR)).
As the presentation of each product and its origin may play an important role in the effectiveness of the treatments and the selection of the proper operating parameters, three different formats of products, representative of the commercial herbs & spices, were studied: oregano as representative of herb format, paprika as representative of powder, and pepper as representative of seed product.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of each particular technology the first objective consisted of the definition of a specific analytical and inoculation methodology and the product requirements to be used to assess the effectiveness of the technologies. The second objective was the application of the different technologies to the selected products for the assessment of the efficacy of the treatments: microbial load, colour changes, and other physico-chemical parameters and the identification of the more convenient technologies for each particular product and more convenient processing conditions. The project was also aimed to validate the quality of the spices treated with the selected conditions and selected technologies in high water content food product. Finally, the focus was put on the evaluation of the limitations for each technology to scale up the results at an industrial level and the industrial feasibility of each technology.
Project Results:
As a starting point for the proper development of the project, a review of the different laws, guidances, scientific literature and protocols that apply to herbs and spices was performed. In addition, safety and regulations concerning the novel decontamination technologies (electromagnetic heating, high pressure CO2 + ultrasound and cold plasma) were considered. The objective of this part consisted of advising the Consortium about regulations related to the technologies used and to make SMEs/industries and SME-AGs aware of EU legislation basics, as a way to ensure the processing and proper exploitation of herbs and spices.
Furthermore, an identification of important quality requirements (results in attachment) for herbs and spices, as well as a mapping of process diagrams was performed specifically for paprika (powder), pepper (seed) and oregano (herb), products studied in the experimental phase of the project. The mapping of the process diagrams included identification of appropriate process conditions as well as critical points, regarding quality/safety, throughout the entire food chain. This information was taken as a reference for the development of the new decontamination solutions and physicochemical and microbial characterization of the products (D1.1).
A defined sampling plan, analytical methodology and operative conditions to be applied along the project in order to determine the initial quality parameters of model products and biological contamination before and after the treatments was defined considering both physicochemical and microbial parameters. Specific microorganisms were selected for the inoculation of the samples. The detailed results of this part were given in D1.2 and D3.1 but the selected microorganisms to be inoculated are summarised below.
Enterococcus faecium Enterococcus faecium was selected for the microbiological validation tests for HPCD + US and CP treatments. Enterococcus faecium strain NRRL B-2354 (reference: Almond Board of California (ABC)
This surrogate is applicable for use in validation studies of dry heat processes of almonds, such as dry roast, dry roast flavoring, brine and pre-wet dry roast, dry plasticizing, etc.; moist air processes such as steam plasticizing, ambient steam and other alternative heating treatments such as infrared, microwave and radio frequency heating of dry or pre-wet almonds.
Enterococcus faecalis Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433 was selected as an indicator microorganism to monitor the efficiency of the HPCD+US treatments.
Enterococcus faecalis is an indicator of general hygiene and fecal contamination. It is high resistant to desiccation and chlorination and was described as resistant to some antibiotics and chemical treatments.
Escherichia coli Escherichia coli was used as a general indicator to monitor the efficiency of the novel treatments, as well. Escherichia coli is a general indicator of direct or indirect contamination by faecal matter and a sure-fire indication of the poor hygiene practices of food handlers.
Different strains were used for this validation as: DSM1116 (ATB), CECT 471 (AINIA).
Bacillus cereus Spores of Bacillus cereus (ATCC 14579) were used as a suitable indicator microorganism to monitor the efficiency of the IR and MW decontamination process (thermal treatment). The selection was based on the natural occurrence of B. cereus spores in herbs and spices, its major concern for the food industry as it can cause severe food poisoning, and finally the fact that spores are more resistant to thermal treatment than vegetative cells.
Salmonella enterica Salmonella enterica (DSM 17058) is a food pathogen and one of the vegetative microorganisms most often related to food borne outbreaks caused by herbs or spices. The strain used for the study has a strong ability to withstand desiccation and was hence used for the study.
Bacillus subtilis Bacillus subtilis spores (PS832) were used due to its higher resistance compared to vegetative microorganisms and its easy handling. Further it is one of the best explored spore forming microorganism and could be regarded as a reference model spore former to evaluate the impact of the CP treatment on spore inactivation in general.
Bacillus atrophaeus Bacillus atrophaeus spores (WIS 39 6/3) were used for CP treatments, because this spore strain is a sterilization surrogate for irradiation and chemical decontamination.
Also a specific inoculation methodology for microorganisms and mycotoxins was developed for each particular product and described in D2.1 and D3.1.
During the development of the trials with each decontamination alternative, different prototype samples were obtained for a further characterization and for an evaluation by the SME partners for a later development of high water content food products. Therefore, treated samples from each product category, namely powders (paprika), herbs (oregano) and seeds (pepper), were delivered from the RTD partners to the SMEs at different moments during WP2 and WP3. Some examples of the treated samples are shown in attachment.
Regarding the results of the application of the different technologies, for the decontamination of herbs and spices there are no specific guidelines or legislations available, which determine a minimum inactivation level, target microorganism or surrogates. Therefore, the SME partners in the project defined a 4 log10 reduction of the total plate count (TPC) as the target inactivation level each decontamination technology has to achieve for the different products.
With regard to the tested cold plasma applications, both, the direct and indirect plasma exposure, had a certain inactivation capability for the tested herbs and spices. The indirect plasma treatment of paprika powder, achieved a really good inactivation (3.25 log10 of the TPC), but had a negative effect on the product colour. The direct plasma treatment of paprika with the DBD-system showed an even more pronounced bleaching of the product colour and a lower microbial inactivation. Consequently, none of the tested plasma systems were suitable to achieve a sufficient inactivation without effecting the product quality.
The impact on the determined quality parameters of oregano was not that severe as for paprika, but the achieved inactivation was far below the wanted 4 log10 reduction of the TPC. Hence, none of the tested plasma systems was suitable for the decontamination of crushed oregano.
From all tested products whole black pepper was the most resistant one, with regard to assessed product quality parameters. This in combination with the lowest product surface/plasma gas ratio enabled a signification reduction of the TPC without affecting the quality. From tested plasma-systems, the indirect plasma source was the most efficient one, which achieved the wanted 4 log10 reduction of the TPC and Salmonella with nearly no impact on the product quality.
In conclusion the indirect plasma application with the process gas of the PLEXc-Microwave plasma system was found the most promising technology for the decontamination of whole black pepper.
The optimum process conditions identified in this study were a 60 min treatment of 5 g of pepper in 245 mL of PLEXc-process gas. Longer treatment times or higher gas concentrations did not further increase the maximum inactivation.
Further advantages of the indirect plasma treatment compared to both direct plasma sources are the higher product throughput and the better up-scaling possibilities of this system. The indirect plasma treatment enables a separation of the plasma and the treatment device. Further, compressed air is used compared to noble gas for the plasma jet and the PLEXc-process gas could be collected and stored at least for some minutes.
The summary of product-process interactions is given in attachment and more detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in whole black pepper are shown in D4.1.
Regarding the application of HPCD+US, the experiments were mainly focused on paprika. It was found difficult to achieve a complete inactivation due to the presence of highly resistant spores. The most influential parameters were the initial moisture and treatment temperature influencing the CO2 attack. The water content may also play a key role in reducing the external pH, which seems to act synergistically with the CO2.
However, initial moisture and temperature values should be kept under 20% and between 50 and 80ºC, respectively, to avoid the alteration of the final quality of paprika. Pressure could be maintained at a relatively low level (150-200 bar) because higher pressures don’t demonstrated to contribute to more effective microbicidal results and may contribute to a partial extraction of capsaicinoids. It appeared to be more important to ensure good contact between the fluid and the powder product.
Under these conditions, treatment times on the order of 30–60min would be enough to achieve the disinfection and total reduction of moulds and yeasts, Enterobacteriaceae and pathogen microorganisms required by the most exigent clients. Nevertheless, this technology has shown that spores or total viable counts were not significantly reduced reaching a max reduction of 0.5 log10 and 1 log10respectively. According to the spice producers, to show the absence of spores in their products it is not a preset requirement and there is not legislation regarding this issue but occasionally some clients specify they need an absence of spores and usually very low levels are accepted. In addition, in most of the studied samples of paprika, total viable counts are in a similar level than spores what means that most of the aerobes present in the samples are spores.
One advantage of the application of HPCD +US is that paprika retains its category in terms of colour and the final humidity would comply with the required levels for secure storage.
As a consequence, taking into consideration that this technology is the one that guarantees the most the sensorial properties of the paprika and the main contaminant are inactivated, this method was proposed as a viable alternative to traditional moist-heat treatments or hydrostatic processes for paprika disinfection.
Decontamination achievements for black pepper and oregano were similar to paprika and higher levels of decontamination of total aerobes and spores were obtained in oregano (up to 2 log10 of total aerobes reduction and 1log10 of spores). No significant changes of colour were observed.
For higher exigencies in the reduction of the total aerobic counts (such as terminal sterilisation) in spices, it would be necessary to combine the technology with the addition of some compounds to the CO2 referenced by different authors (H2O2, mixtures of H2O2, ethanol and water, peracetic and trifluoroacetic acids) of great efficiency. Nevertheless these mixtures are generally only adequate for medical devices or clothing, and would likely be unacceptable for use in food products. (Calvo and Torres, 2010)
The optimum process conditions identified in this study were 80ºC, 30 min and 150 bar in 180 g of paprika with an initial moisture content of 14% and a power of ultrasounds of 75V. Longer treatment times and higher pressures did not further increase the maximum inactivation level.
In attachment are summarised the product-process interactions with respect to the application of HPCD+US. More detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in paprika are shown in D4.1.
With regards to Infrared and Microwaves, these are heating and thermal decontamination methods. Although they differ somewhat in nature compared to conventional methods, they offer few surprises in terms of decontamination ability. As a consequence, in principle any kind of decontamination level can be achieved (if not considering the alteration of sensorial quality) with the two technologies – it is just a matter of how to design the equipment, and what time – temperature to use, combined with an appropriate water activity of the material and ensured heat uniformity.
The IR treatment of oregano resulted in a 5.6 log unit reduction of inoculated B. cereus spores after a 10 min treatment at 90°C. Under the same treatment conditions, the natural flora was reduced to <2 log units for TPC. According to the SMEs the green colour (ΔE 2.44 ± 0.33) was better preserved for the IR treated oregano compared to a typical steam treated oregano sample. The loss of volatile oil was at a similar level as for the steam treated oregano. A significant change of the HS-GC volatile compounds was found in the IR treated oregano. However the key aroma compound carvacrol was not affected to any high degree, indicating that the typical oregano flavour could be preserved. Carvacrol is further known to be connected to the health beneficial properties of oregano.
In the experiments of this project the MW- treated oregano resulted in a less efficient decontamination degree compared to the IR treated oregano, but with another set-up the result could very well have been the opposite. For instance the MW heating of paprika powder resulted in a higher degree of decontamination than the IR heating. Both treatments of paprika fulfilled the requirements of a 4 log reduction of TPC, but also strongly affected the colour of the paprika.
In this project it was decided to select the best technology for each herb/spice based on the ability to reach decontamination levels of 4 log units, also for spices with heat resistant natural flora (i.e. predominantly bacterial spores). MW and IR heating affected sensorial properties of the herb/spices, but were also the only technologies that theoretical could guarantee 4 logs inactivation for any product. More specifically they were considered to be the most successful technologies for oregano. Even though the reduction of the natural flora did not reach a 4 log reduction for the IR treatment this technology was selected to be further evaluated in WP5 for oregano. This because, a high reduction was achieved in the case of inoculated B. cereus spores, and at the same time the sensorial quality was acceptable.
In attachment are summarised the product-process interactions with respect to the application of IR and MW heating . More detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in paprika are shown in D4.1.
As a consequence, based on the experimental data, the processing costs calculation were evaluated for the following options:
- An indirect plasma application for the treatment of whole black pepper.
- An ultrasound assisted high pressure carbon dioxide treatment of paprika powder.
- A microwave and infrared heating for the treatment of oregano.
Then the focus was put on the hurdles limiting the transfer of the proposed technologies to an industrial process and the challenges that might be met when transferring some of the needed equipment to industrial scale.
Further a description of research needs for a further development /commercialisation of the chosen product/process combinations were given and a first economic evaluation was done for each process.
Regarding the indirect plasma treatment of whole black pepper, it opens new perspectives for lowering the microbial count on seed surface. However, for a health and/or risk assessment, data for plasma-product interactions are still too scarce. This also applies especially on potential compositional changes in the food, especially with regard to potentially harmful components. Anyhow, the obtained data about the antimicrobial properties of the Plexc-gas towards spores and the TPC are very promising. The processing costs calculation gives a rough estimation about the treatment costs at a larger scale. The calculated 0.12 €/kg (for productions of 200kg/h) are of economical relevance, but they are based on a lot of assumptions. Especially the costs for spare parts have to be taken into account, due to that no data about a long-term operation of the Plexc-system are available. Hence, higher treatment costs are likely.
With respect to HPCD, there are none equipment suppliers that provide supercritical fluid/HPCD equipment for the specific and unique purpose of decontamination of spices/herbs. Equipment suppliers design mainly equipment for extraction processes which is the most requested application, most of them for food applications. Nevertheless, some supercritical fluid/HPCD equipment work in closely related applications such as elimination of pesticides in rice or other cereals and similar dry products; extraction of essential oils in herbs and spices, etc. Equipment suppliers work mainly under turn key projects where the design of the decontamination plant depends mostly on the demand of this application and not in the difficulty of its implementation.
Although HPCD pasteurization has great potential for improving the safety and quality of foods, some technological and regulatory hurdles still need to be overcome before the supply chain can receive these benefits. (García Gonzalez, 2007). A favourable point to take into consideration is that, the HPCD or supercritical CO2 is industrialized today for several applications for extractive purposes and considered as a green process since CO2 is a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) solvent (not toxic nor flammable).
Regarding the economic processing aspects, in the GREENFOODEC project, the costs calculations to treat 200kg/h of paprika with HPCD+US were 0,26 €/kg. In this case the investment costs represented almost 50% of the total costs. Nevertheless, to treat 800kg/h the total costs estimated were 0,13€/kg. This means that the final costs would be reduced with an optimum final production rate. For this reason, after evaluating the suitability of the technology for a given product, and studied the technical and economic feasibility, it is necessary to study the minimum size of a facility for which the investment cost is reasonable.
With regards to both IR and microwave technologies, both are today in use in food industry, and are receiving more and more acceptance, as well as finding niches where they either save energy and costs or have a beneficial impact on the quality; sometimes it goes hand in hand.
Probably the most likely cases where IR and/or microwave decontamination could find successful application would be in one or more of the following cases:
- Incorporation in a steam process, replacing the conventional heat source.
- “Mild” heat treatments where for instance inactivation of spores is disregarded.
- Other niche applications, such as using the technologies in a plant where a combined decontamination and drying process is applied just after harvest.
Before considering the first case it is advisable to perform a “fair” comparison to steam treatment, constructing advanced laboratory or pilot plant equipment and treating various products “on equal terms”. Otherwise there is a risk to draw false conclusions, based on observations that are simply results of differences in the treatments (time - temperature) and/or variations in the treated products.
A steam treatment process has many advantages; in particular if steam (or steam energy) is reused, the process becomes quite energy-efficient. In the same time, microwave and IR heating processes seldom reach efficiencies above 60%. Yet, if the reference system is conventional steam treatment without recirculation of steam, then microwave and IR heating of conditioned raw material (raw material with increased water activity) have a chance to become more comparable in terms of energy-efficiency. However, this requires an efficient method to increase water activity on industrial scale. Such a method may be easy to design for a herb like oregano, since it absorbs moist relatively fast. On the other hand does the colour of oregano seem to be sensitive to “excessive wetting”, which potentially complicates the design.
In the latter two cases of potentially successful application of IR/microwave decontamination, there may be many considerations that are more related to specific goals and needs, inherent in certain processes or products. Such considerations are by nature difficult to specify, since they vary from situation to situation.
Cost analysis for IR and MW indicate production costs in the range of 0,09 – 0,26 €/kg depending on equipment design. This indicates cost efficiency comparable to today’s steam treatment. However, care needs to be taken to compare costs, as well as energy-efficiency, on a basis where the alternatives produce comparable product quality. One should remember that the cost analysis presented here is based on a number of assumptions and hence contains many uncertainties.
The final research actions consisted of studying the shelf-life of high water content food products with added herb/spices treated with the novel decontamination technologies, and compare this to the addition of untreated herb/spices, as well as to the addition of conventional steam treated herb/spices. As a consequence, cold plasma was selected for the treatment of black pepper, high pressure carbon dioxide + ultrasounds for paprika powder and infrared heating for oregano. Two different high water content food products were selected for the study, one mayonnaise and one meat product (fresh meat), representing different formats and composition of foodstuff. Black pepper and paprika powder were added to the sauce, while black pepper and oregano were added to the meat product. A storage study was then performed, under controlled conditions, while continually evaluating the microbial and physicochemical quality of the products.
The aim of this work was to validate the novel decontamination technologies by presenting the outcome of the storage study of the high water content food products with added herb/spices, describing the methods used and the selection of the different high water content food products, as well as the selection of parameters to analyze. Detailed information is given in D5.1.
Regarding the study in mayonnaise, it was observed that the general spoilage of mayonnaise with added spices was faster than in mayonnaise without spices. In addition, in both studies at 8ºC and at 25ºC, the visual spoilage of mayonnaise with paprika was slightly faster than with pepper. In all cases, the study at 25ºC increased the speed of the spoilage, because the microorganisms have an optimum growth temperature.
General loads of total viable counts and moulds and yeast increased in both 8ºC and 25ºC studies in all samples, while spores maintain the original levels at 8ºC. Even if spores have not been reduced significantly with HPCDUS, they remain stable after 14 days in the mayonnaise with added HPCDUS treated paprika stored at 8ºC.
As no Enterobacteria have been found in treated samples, no evolution was observed. Only in non treated samples Enterobacteria increased.
No differences were observed in Total viable counts and spores evolution between Steam and Plasma samples evolution and seem more effective than HPCDUS. This was related to the initial TPC of the spices prior to their addition in the mayonnaise.
Plasma and HPCDUS showed similar efficiency in the Enterobacteria decontamination than Steam treatment. HPCDUS paprika samples showed a lower spoilage caused by moulds and yeasts than plasma and steam in mayonnaise
With regards to the study in meat, when oregano was added to meat pieces, both the IR and steam treatments improved the shelf-life of the meat product considerably compared to the sample with untreated psices. No difference in microbial growth could however be noted between the IR and steam treated samples. Both the IR and steam treated samples kept their colour and oregano smell during storage better than the untreated sample. A similar HS-GC pattern was observed for the IR and steam treated samples during storage, with exceptions for some compounds, e.g. the key aroma component carvacrol, that showed opposite behavior in the IR and steam treated samples. This could possibly be correlated with the more intense oregano smell observed for the steam treated samples in the beginning of the study.
Neither the cold plasma nor the steam treated pepper raw material showed a severe influence on the colour of the pepper corns compared to the untreated samples. The steam treated pepper exhibited however a higher water content compared to the untreated and cold plasma treated pepper. When coarse grinded pepper was added to meat pieces, no obvious difference could be observed in terms of microbial growth, appearance or smell, between the different treatments. The absence of microbial growth made it difficult to draw any conclusion regarding improved shelf-life neither due to cold plasma nor steam treatment of pepper.
As a summary of the work performed during the project, two main documents were prepared. The first one is a technical guide focused on the assessment of new processing solutions for the decontamination of herbs and spices and on the research on technical and economic aspects related to the industrial application of the novel technologies of the study. The second document is the Book of Methods to assess the quality of spices and herbs. This document describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline of methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices.
Potential Impact:
At the beginning of the project, the official public access website was launched at http://www.greenfoodec.eu. It was periodically updated with news about the consortium and its members, about information generated in the project and considered as public and about events of the project itself as well as connected to it. The final VIDEO was also presented in the website. Moreover, the private area of the website, only accessible to project partners and to the REA via the Project Officer, granted access to internal documents (deliverables, dissemination documents, meetings minutes, official reports and working documents).
Another dissemination material to publicise was the project leaflet, which was specially addressed to the spice industry. Two different project leaflets were prepared, one at the beginning of the project and another at the end. The first one introduced the project and presented with high simplicity the present and the expected future situation with regards to the technologies for the decontamination of spices. A total of around 1200 copies were printed in different languages (English, Spanish, Turkish and German). This allowed reaching more industries more easily. The second leaflet was distributed in English and Turkish taking advantage of the final conference celebrated at the end of the project. This leaflet presented the main activities developed during the execution of the project, the main dissemination results and technical results of the project. Both leaflets are also available in electronic format in the project website.
A remarkable effort was made by all the partners in order to contribute to the dissemination of GreenFooDec. The most important activities carried out in this area as well as the scientific publications originated from the project are listed next:
Press releases:
o EGE TELGRAF, February 2012, “Baharat ihracatinda hedef 2 milyar dólar” (Spice Export Target is 2Billion$).
o YENI GAZETEM EGE, February 2012, “Egeli ihracatci AR-GE ile hedefi bulacak” (Aegean Exporters will reach the target with innovation).
o HABER EKSPRES, February 2012, “Ege’nin baharat ihracatinda hedefi 2 milyar dollar” (Aegean Spice Target is 2Billion$ - Aegean Exporters will work for innovation in spice sector with the GreenFoodec project financed by European Commission).
o YENI ASIR, February 2012, “Bharattan Ege’ye 2 milyar dollar”2Billion$ Spice Export for Aegean Region).
o TICARET, February 2012, “Barata inovasyona odaklandi” (Aegean Exporters’ Associations focused on R&D&I in Spice Sector).
o EGE'DE BUGÜN, February 2012, “Baharat sektöründe inovasyon için kollar sivandi” (Aegean Region is ready to innovate in spice sector)
o POSTA IZMIR EGE, February 2012, “barata tat, koku, renk kayiplani en aza inecek” (Losses of Organoleptic properties of spices will be minimized).
o SON DAKIKA, February 2012, “ 150 milyon dolarlik ihracati 2 milyar dolara Çikartacagiz” (We will shift the spice export from 150million$ to 2 billion$)
o YENI GÜN IZMIR, February 2012, “Baharat sektöründe inovasyon atagi” (Innovation in Spice sector).
o SON-AN, February 2012, “Baharat ihracatindaki hedef 2 milyar dólar” (Spice Export Target is 2Billion$).
o Agencia Efe, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor” (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Europa Press, April 2012, “Ainia desenvolupa nous tractaments per a garantir la seguretat alimentària en espècies” (Ainia develops new treatments for food safety in spices).
o ABC, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Iberoamérica, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Interempresas, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos garantizan la seguridad alimentaria en especias, conservando sus propiedades organolépticas”. (New treatments for food safety in spices with the preservation of spices sensorial properties).
o Club Darwin, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria en especias” (New treatments for food safety in spices).
o Infoalimentación, April 2012, “Tratamientos en especias” (Spices treatments).
o Agencia Sinc, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Lukor, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Eroski Consumer, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para conservar las propiedades organolépticas de las especias”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices sensorial properties).
o Gran Canaria Actualidad, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias”. (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Solo Ciencia, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Canal alimentación, May 12, “Nuevos tratamientos para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria en especias y mantener sus propiedades” (New treatments for food safety in spices with the preservation of spices properties).
o Livsmedel i focus, website and paper version (no 4, 2012), May 2012 (Internet) and May 2012 (paper version), “Nya tekniker ska bevara kryddor” (New technologies will preserve spices).
o European Spice Association Website. http://www.esa-spices.org May 2012, “Europäisches Forschungsprojekt zur Qualitätsverbesserung von Kräutern und Gewürzen gestartet” (Launching a European research project on improving the quality of herbs and spices).
o Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten.May 2012.“Potsdamer Agrarforscher testen „kaltes Plasma“ zur schonenden Entkeimung von Lebensmitteln (Agricultural engineers from Potsdam test "cold plasma" for gentle sterilization of foods.
o Góndola digital and Ediporc Guía May 13, “Las empresas del sector de las especias debaten sobre el futuro del sector en Murcia” (The Spice Sector companies debate the future of the sector in Murcia)
o Asociación de especias, May 2013, “El sector se reúne con éxito en Murcia” (The sector meets successfully in Murcia).
o Aral digital, May 13, “El sector de las especias se reúne para tratar la modificación de la reglamentación” (The Spice sector meets to discuss about the changes in the regulations).
o Alimarket, October 2013. El sector especiero se da cita en el seminario Greenfoodec bajo el título "Oportunidades tecnológicas para la conservación de especias" (The spice industry arrived at Greenfoodec seminar entitled "Technological opportunities for preservation of spices”).
o Cartagena actualidad, October 2013 “Amplia asistencia del sector en el seminario GREENFOODEC”(Extensive attendance to the Spice sector in the GREENFOODEC seminar).
o ATB, February2014. Einsatz von nicht-thermischem Plasma bei Lebensmitteln. (Application of non-thermal plasma for food)
o ANAYURT, June 2014. İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ EKONOMİ, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ GÜN İZMİR, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharatta Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spices).
o HABER EKSPRES, June 2014. Baharat İhracatımızı Artırmak İstiyoruz (We Want to Increase Spice Export).
o TİCARET, June 2014. Baharat Sektörünün Arge Atağı (R&D Attack of Spice Sector).
o DÜNYA, June 2014. Egeli Baharat İhracatçılarından Arge Atağı (Aegean Spice Exporters’ R&D Attack)
o AYDIN HEDEF, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector)
o SON DAKİKA, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ ASIR, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçıdan Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporter’s R&D Attack).
o SABAH İZMİR EGE, June 2014. Baharat Sektörünün İlk Arge Çalışması (First R&D Activity of Spice Sector).
o ÇİZGİ, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector)
o EGE’DE BUGÜN, June 2014. Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o POSTA İZMİR EGE, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharatta Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spices).
o AYRINTILI HABER, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack).
Articles Published in the popular press:
o "Technology News"/Gothenburg, Sweden. Development of novel and advanced decontamination Technologies.
o "Aktuellt från SIK"/Gothenburg, SwedenKryddor och örter ska bevaras.
o Rundschau der Fleischhygiene und Lebensmittelüberwachung (RFL), 9, 327-328. Potentielle Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von kaltem Plasma in der Fleischverarbeitung.
o DLG Lebensmittel. 8: 20-21. Schonende Dekontamination von Gewürzen.
Scientific publications (under revision)
o Eliasson, L; Libander, P; Lövenklev, M.; Isaksson, S.; Ahrné, L. Infrared decontamination of oregano: effects on Bacillus cereus spores, water activity, colour and volatile compounds. Journal of Food Science
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Knorr D., Rauh C., Schlüter O.. Remote plasma treatment of various herbs and spices. Journal of Food Engineering.
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Knorr D., Rauh C., Schlüter O. Decontamination of whole black pepper using different cold atmospheric plasma applications. Innovative Food Science and Emerging technologies.
Scientific publications (under preparation)
o Valverde M., Porta s., Capilla V. Microbial inactivation and quality assessment of Paprika using High Pressure CO2 enhanced with ultrasounds. Alimentaria, investigación, tecnología y seguridad
o Isaksson, S.; Eliasson, L.; Lövenklev, M.; Libander, P.; Ahrné, L. Design and validation of laboratory microwave heating equipment, for the decontamination of oregano. Journal of Food Engineering
o Reineke K, Langer K, Hertwig C, Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. The impact of different gas compositions on the inactivation of Bacillus spores by cold atmospheric plasma. Journal of Food Engineering
Conference article:
o Isaksson S. and Succarats R.. Water Activity and Bulk Density Dependence of the Dielectric Properties of Spices and Herbs. ISEMA, Weimar, Germany, September 2013.
Posters:
o Valverde M., Porta s., Capilla V. Application of High Pressure CO2 combined with ultrasounds for the decontamination of paprika (VII CYTA), 2013.
o Isaksson S. and Succarats R. Water Activity and Bulk Density Dependence of the Dielectric Properties of Spices and Herbs. ISEMA, Weimar, 2013.
o Reineke K, Hertwig C, Schnabel U., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter. O. Gentle endospore inactivation on the surface of whole black pepper by direct and indirect plasma treatment. IAFP “European Symposium on Food Safety”, 2013.
o Hertwig C., Reineke K, Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J, Schlüter O. The Impact of an Indirect Plasma Treatment on Bacterial Endospores Inactivation in Aqueous Solutions IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
o Hertwig C., Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Indirect plasma – A non-thermal inactivation method for Salmonella enterica and bacterial endospores on black pepper. IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
Presentations:
o Valverde M. “Presentation of the GreenFooDec European project. Technological opportunities for the preservation of spices”. Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Ferrer J.M. “¿Existen limitaciones legales a los tratamientos de higienización de los alimentos?”.Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Montañés J. “Aplicaciones industriales del CO2 a alta presión en especias”. Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Weber G. Recent and upcoming problems/ challenges of herbs and spice decontamination. Training seminar celebrated in Bohn, Germany, 2013.
o Reineke K. GreenFooDec Project – Technologies – Products – Results. Training seminar celebrated in Bohn, Germany, 2013.
o Reineke K. and Schlüter O. Cold atmospheric plasma – A gentle way to increase the microbial quality of whole black pepper. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Isaksson S. and Eliasson L. IR and microwave decontamination – alternatives or complements to steam treatment? Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Valverde M. Advances in high pressure CO2 technology in the agrifood. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Oktay Basegmez I. Trends and worldwide regulations on mycotoxin management. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
Conferences:
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Direct and indirect plasma treatment – A promising non-thermal surface decontamination method of whole black pepper. iFood, Hannover, Germany, October 2013
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Bio-efficient inactivation of endospores on whole black pepper by indirect and direct plasma treatment EFFoST Annual Meeting, Bologna, Italy, November 2013
o Schlüter O, Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J. Cold plasma – an innovative inactivation process for bacterial endospores on the surface of whole black pepper. CIGR Section VI, Guangzhou, China, November 2013
o Reineke K. Cold-Atmospheric Plasma- A Gentle Process for Endospore Inactivation on Food Surfaces. IAFP “European Symposium an Food Safety”, Budapest, Hungary, May 2014.
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Non-thermal inactivation of Salmonella enterica and Bacillus endospores on the surface of whole black pepper by indirect plasma treatment. 3rd ISEKI_Food Conference, Athens, Greece, May 2014.
o Reineke K. Non-Thermal Plasma: A Tailor-Made Process for Endospore Inactivation on Food Surfaces. IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
o Valverde M. GreenFooDec Project Overview. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Isaksson S. Increasing Product Quality in Oregano: Microwave and Infrared Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Schlüter O. Increasing Product Quality in Pepper: Cold Plasma Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Valverde M. Increasing Product Quality in Paprika: High Pressure Carbone Dioxide and Ultrasounds Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
Workshops contributions:
o Molina J and Valverde M. “Retos Tecnológicos y Oportunidades para el Sector de las Especias y Afines”, Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Weber G.and Reineke K. “Results and demands from the industry”, Bohn, Germany, 2013.
Complementary dissemination information is posted in the list of dissemination activities presented in the participant portal.
The first main result of the project consisted on a technical guide with the assessment of each decontamination alternative including the operational guidelines for the tested technologies. This document focused on the definition of the detailed processing conditions for each particular product, more precisely:
• Application of 60 min of indirect plasma treatment of whole black pepper.
• Application of 30 min High Pressure Carbone Dioxide treatment at 80ºC and 150bar with a power of ultrasounds of 75V in paprika.
• Application of IR at 90 °C for a 10 min holding time
These were the treatment conditions taken as a reference for the treatment of each particular product.
The second main result of the project, the book of methods, describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline for methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices. This document is a guide-compilation of the developed methods of analysis in the framework of the GREENFOODEC project, to help the understanding of the obtained results, from the selection of raw materials to the validation of the new technologies in the final high water content food products. It could be a basis of knowledge for future validation studies for herbs and spices or other food products of interest.
As a bridge towards exploitation activities, 3 training seminars and 3 workshops were organised in the framework of the project. More particularly, these events were organized by AEC with the support of AINIA in Spain (September 2013), by FGI with the support of ATB in Germany (November 2013) and by AEGEAN with the support of AINIA in Turkey (June 2014). In all cases, in order to ensure a wider audience, it was decided to group the development of the workshop and the training seminars in the same day or in consecutive days.
The workshops were specifically oriented to the end users. The associations organising the events pretended to explain their associated SMEs and other potential stakeholders the technical achievements obtained from the project. The workshops were oriented in the one hand to promote the project and the activities implemented and on the other hand to present the technical findings and achievements to the participants. During the training sessions more detailed information regarding the project results was given focusing also in methodological and practical aspects. In all cases there was a wide attendance to the events where the public showed special interest in the effectiveness of the different technologies and addressed different specific questions focused on the abilities of the different technologies.
Through the development of these events, producers and companies from the European Union profited from the transfer of the progress in the knowledge of the different technologies tested. They received inputs on the advances in each one of the technologies studied tackling issues like the following: process description; the applications in the food sector, the benefits and limitations of the technologies for decontamination purposes, equipment needs at a lab scale and at an industrial scale.
It is foreseen that the results of this project could have an economic impact in different food sectors with the enhancement of the shelf-life of different food products that will require milder pasteurisation treatments which will imply a reduction in the energy consumption during the pasteurisation treatments, better sensory quality and better image in the market.
There might be a medium-large term implementation of the technologies for decontamination purposes. The advances in the knowledge of the technology and the cause and effect of the different treatment conditions on the products have been positive even if a global solution for all the spices has not been found. Finally, it is considered that with the attained results of the project new opportunities will open for employment in different sectors, such as the equipment design (high pressure, CP, MW), the design of control systems, simulation tools, etc.
List of Websites:
www.greenfoodec.eu
The aim of GREENFOODEC was to set up novel and advanced decontamination technologies, overcoming the limitations of the existing technologies for high quality preservation and microbial decontamination of herbs & spices. The results of the present work are directed to identify which technology is more convenient for each particular product.
The first step followed in the project consisted of the definition of a specific analytical methodology to be applied along the project and the general requirements for the characterisation and inoculation of spices in order to determine the initial quality parameters of model products, biological contamination and expected final properties of the products after the treatments. Both physicochemical and microbial parameters were considered for spices selected at the beginning of the study. Three different products were taken as a reference considering that they should cover on the one hand a broad product variety and on the other hand a high relevance for a potential application. Therefore, as a powder paprika was chosen, whole black pepper should represent all kinds of seeds and oregano a leafy heat sensitive herb.
In a second step, the different proposed technologies were applied to the above mentioned products previously selected by the SMEs participating in the project. The aim of this step consisted of the application of new methods for microbial disinfection of herbs and spices based on the following alternative/emerging technologies: High Pressure Carbone Dioxide combined with ultrasounds, Cold plasma, Microwave and Infrared heating. Naturally contaminated samples and inoculated samples with previously defined inoculation protocols were used for the development of the decontamination solutions. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of the different treatments on the elimination of the microbial contamination and to verify the final quality of the products in comparison with steam treated products. Different prototypes of the treated samples were supplied to the SMEs for the verification of the desired quality of the same.
Thirdly, according to the microbial and sensorial characterisation of the samples the most suitable conditions for the decontamination of each product was identified for the tested technologies. As a summary, indirect plasma was found the most convenient for the treatment of whole black pepper, an ultrasound assisted high pressure carbon dioxide for the treatment of paprika powder and microwave and infrared heating for the treatment of oregano. In accordance to these results, special attention was put into the hurdles limiting the transfer of the proposed technologies to an industrial process and the challenges that might be met when transferring some of the needed equipment to industrial scale. Then a description of research needs for a further development/commercialisation of the chosen product/process combinations was given and a first economic evaluation for each process.
Next, a study of shelf life of high water content food products for the validation of the novel decontamination technologies was performed by adding in high water content food products herb/spices treated with the novel decontamination technologies which were compared to the addition of untreated herb/spices, and to the addition of conventional steam treated herb/spices.
Finally two main results were obtained after the development of the project. The first one is a technical guide focused on the assessment of new processing solutions for the decontamination of herbs and spices and on the research on technical and economic aspects related to the industrial application of the novel technologies of the study. The second result is the Book of Methods to assess the quality of spices and herbs. This document describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline of methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices. Both documents are attached in the following report.
Project Context and Objectives:
The EU market is the second largest market for seasonings, spices and herbs in the world, accounting for € 1.2 billion. Apparent consumption of part of the spices and herbs described in the CBI market survey (2010) increased from 321 thousand tonnes in 2004 to 336 thousand tonnes in 2008, indicating moderate average annual growth. The leading consuming EU markets are the UK, Germany, Romania and Hungary, together accounting for 58%. CBI (2010)
Few spices are produced in the EU. According to FAOSTAT data (2009), total EU production of spices amounted to 120 thousand tonnes in 2008, of which 63% consisted of paprika, chillies & allspice, for the largest part produced in Hungary and Romania. The production of spice seeds accounted for 33% and the remaining 4% was other spices.
Eurostat (2009) reports on the production of officinal herbs, aromatic plants and plants for seasoning. The largest EU producers are Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland and Hungary. While Bulgaria and Germany experienced average annual declines, the other larger producers saw their production increase.
The EU is a net importer of spices and herbs. A large part of the EU export trade consists of spices and herbs which have been imported in bulk or in crude form and which, following grinding, processing and/or repackaging, are re-exported to other EU and overseas markets.
The consumption of spices and herbs can be divided into three end-user segments: the industrial, the retail and the catering sector. In almost all EU countries the industrial sector consumes the largest proportion, accounting for 55-60% of the total usage of spices and herbs. The retail sector consumes 35-40% and the catering sector 10-15%.
Important trends influencing the EU market for spices and herbs are:
- Increased demand for convenience food requires the food industry to add the required flavours and has led to an extensive range of ready-to-use spice mixes.
- The trend towards internationalisation and increasing consumption of ethnic foods has created growing interest in spices.
- European consumers have a strongly increased interest in a healthy lifestyle and, consequently, in the consumption of health food.
- The market for organic food as well as Fair Trade food is increasing.
Consumers are the key element in the success of any agrifood sector because their needs, habits and preferences will determine the strategy to be followed by the food industry. Consumer needs for more convenient food products are the reason for the constant increase of RTE foods and meals. The development and production of RTE meals of high quality is still a challenge for food industry due to microbial as well as product quality reasons. Thus, having herbs & spices microbiological safe and of high quality can contribute to significantly improve these meals and meet the culinary excellence required by consumers.
Consumers are nowadays more aware of different issues as safety and food quality, sustainability, respect for the environment and of course of nutritional and sensory aspects of the products they consume. Therefore, companies work more and more to meet the demands of consumers, raising the creation of safety, quality and traceability systems as well as seeking for new technologies to ensure product safety. As a consequence these new trends have meant that some traditionally applied technologies, such as thermal treatments or chemical treatments of preservation, are being replaced by alternatives with more respect to the environment, energy saving, with better sensory quality and with higher nutritious value in products.
The herbs & spices industry is no stranger to this situation, in fact after the collection of the raw material these are subjected to different treatments, as well as other vegetable products, to reduce its water activity and to slow down the degradation of the active compounds and aromas. This stabilization stage is followed by conditioning methods (disinfection, grinding and packaging) prior their marketing.
Nevertheless, the above treatments are insufficient to avoid the biological contamination, and while they don’t show any apparent alteration, the superficial layers of herbs & spices are usually contaminated. In fact, as with many other agricultural products, herbs and spices may be exposed to a wide range of microbial contaminants before, during and post-harvest (McKee, 1995; Koci-Tanackov et al., 2007). Although used in small quantities, herbs and spices are recognized as significant carriers of microbial contamination primarily xerophilic storage molds and some bacteria (Dimic et al., 2000; Romagnoli et al., 2007).
Often, contaminants are aerobic bacteria, sporulated bacteria, moulds, and some cases also revealed the presence of coliform bacteria and Salmonella (Lehmacher et al., 1995; Hara-Kudo et al. 2006; Vij et al., 2006; Sagoo et al., 2009). The most frequent fungal contaminants of spices are species from the genus Aspergillus and Penicillium. Some species that belong to these genuses are known as potential producers of different toxic substances such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins and sterigmatocystine, i.e. mycotoxins that exhibit toxic, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects in humans and animals (Erdogan, 2004; Romagnoli et al., 2007; Suncica et al. 2007). The initial level of bacterial contamination depends basically on the hygienic handling conditions of the country of origin and the treatment they have undergone.
During the last decade of the 20th century, food-borne infections and intoxication due to spices increased in several European countries (Buckenhüskes et al., 2004;Jackson et al., 1995). There are no microbiological standards for dried spices in European Community legislation. However, the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice specifies that dried spices should be free from pathogenic microorganisms at levels that may represent a hazard to health and requires that Salmonella spp. should be absent in treated, ready-to-eat spices (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 1995). The European Spice Association (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) Recommendation 2004/24/EC also specify that Salmonella spp. should be absent in 25 g of spice (ESA, 2007), Escherichia coli must be less than 102 cfu g-1, and other bacteria requirements should be agreed between the buyer and the seller (Muggeridge et al., 2001).
Studies on the microbiology of these commodities have shown the presence of high microbial total counts (up to 8 log CFU g-1 in black pepper, paprika, chilli powder and cumin seeds (Baxter and Holzapfel, 1982; Bhat et al., 1987; McKee, 1995). Thus, herbs and spices may provide a conduit to introduce food spoilage organisms to a range of meals (Garcia et al., 2001). When added to high moisture foods, low levels of microbial contamination in herbs and spices may develop quickly causing the food to deteriorate.
The most effective ways to decontaminate dried food powders, at an industrial scale are chemical treatments, like ethylene oxide fumigation and gamma irradiation. However, these processes have very strong disadvantages. The use of ethylene oxide was prohibited by an EU directive in 1991 and has been banned in a number of other countries because of its carcinogenic by-products. In addition, the use of chemical preservatives is tightly regulated for these products, so it is not a clear solution. On the other hand, gamma irradiation effectively kills micro-organisms and can be used practically on a commercial scale. However, this treatment is not always accepted by consumers and enterprises and is not allowed in all countries (Schweiggert et al., 2007). Finally, steam treatment is extensively used in the European herbs & spices industry. There are different industrial steam treatments on the market, which are used to decontaminate herbs or spices by means of either the high-temperature short-time (HTST) or low-temperature long-time (LTLT) principle. Thus, the application of this method is sometimes associated with discoloration and reduction of volatile oil contents (Almela et al., 2002) and an increased aw in the final product.
A need of scientific base knowledge exists in the sector regarding possible alternative, reliable methodologies for herbs & spices decontamination, which inactivates microorganisms and maintains or even improves the intrinsic quality of the raw materials. Therefore, it was found necessary to develop alternative processing technologies to decontaminate spices & herbs.
To solve the mentioned limitations, GREENFOODEC focused on four novel technologies: High pressure CO2 combined with ultrasound (HPCD+US), cold plasma (CP), and electromagnetic energy (microwave (MW) and infrared irradiation (IR)).
As the presentation of each product and its origin may play an important role in the effectiveness of the treatments and the selection of the proper operating parameters, three different formats of products, representative of the commercial herbs & spices, were studied: oregano as representative of herb format, paprika as representative of powder, and pepper as representative of seed product.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of each particular technology the first objective consisted of the definition of a specific analytical and inoculation methodology and the product requirements to be used to assess the effectiveness of the technologies. The second objective was the application of the different technologies to the selected products for the assessment of the efficacy of the treatments: microbial load, colour changes, and other physico-chemical parameters and the identification of the more convenient technologies for each particular product and more convenient processing conditions. The project was also aimed to validate the quality of the spices treated with the selected conditions and selected technologies in high water content food product. Finally, the focus was put on the evaluation of the limitations for each technology to scale up the results at an industrial level and the industrial feasibility of each technology.
Project Results:
As a starting point for the proper development of the project, a review of the different laws, guidances, scientific literature and protocols that apply to herbs and spices was performed. In addition, safety and regulations concerning the novel decontamination technologies (electromagnetic heating, high pressure CO2 + ultrasound and cold plasma) were considered. The objective of this part consisted of advising the Consortium about regulations related to the technologies used and to make SMEs/industries and SME-AGs aware of EU legislation basics, as a way to ensure the processing and proper exploitation of herbs and spices.
Furthermore, an identification of important quality requirements (results in attachment) for herbs and spices, as well as a mapping of process diagrams was performed specifically for paprika (powder), pepper (seed) and oregano (herb), products studied in the experimental phase of the project. The mapping of the process diagrams included identification of appropriate process conditions as well as critical points, regarding quality/safety, throughout the entire food chain. This information was taken as a reference for the development of the new decontamination solutions and physicochemical and microbial characterization of the products (D1.1).
A defined sampling plan, analytical methodology and operative conditions to be applied along the project in order to determine the initial quality parameters of model products and biological contamination before and after the treatments was defined considering both physicochemical and microbial parameters. Specific microorganisms were selected for the inoculation of the samples. The detailed results of this part were given in D1.2 and D3.1 but the selected microorganisms to be inoculated are summarised below.
Enterococcus faecium Enterococcus faecium was selected for the microbiological validation tests for HPCD + US and CP treatments. Enterococcus faecium strain NRRL B-2354 (reference: Almond Board of California (ABC)
This surrogate is applicable for use in validation studies of dry heat processes of almonds, such as dry roast, dry roast flavoring, brine and pre-wet dry roast, dry plasticizing, etc.; moist air processes such as steam plasticizing, ambient steam and other alternative heating treatments such as infrared, microwave and radio frequency heating of dry or pre-wet almonds.
Enterococcus faecalis Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433 was selected as an indicator microorganism to monitor the efficiency of the HPCD+US treatments.
Enterococcus faecalis is an indicator of general hygiene and fecal contamination. It is high resistant to desiccation and chlorination and was described as resistant to some antibiotics and chemical treatments.
Escherichia coli Escherichia coli was used as a general indicator to monitor the efficiency of the novel treatments, as well. Escherichia coli is a general indicator of direct or indirect contamination by faecal matter and a sure-fire indication of the poor hygiene practices of food handlers.
Different strains were used for this validation as: DSM1116 (ATB), CECT 471 (AINIA).
Bacillus cereus Spores of Bacillus cereus (ATCC 14579) were used as a suitable indicator microorganism to monitor the efficiency of the IR and MW decontamination process (thermal treatment). The selection was based on the natural occurrence of B. cereus spores in herbs and spices, its major concern for the food industry as it can cause severe food poisoning, and finally the fact that spores are more resistant to thermal treatment than vegetative cells.
Salmonella enterica Salmonella enterica (DSM 17058) is a food pathogen and one of the vegetative microorganisms most often related to food borne outbreaks caused by herbs or spices. The strain used for the study has a strong ability to withstand desiccation and was hence used for the study.
Bacillus subtilis Bacillus subtilis spores (PS832) were used due to its higher resistance compared to vegetative microorganisms and its easy handling. Further it is one of the best explored spore forming microorganism and could be regarded as a reference model spore former to evaluate the impact of the CP treatment on spore inactivation in general.
Bacillus atrophaeus Bacillus atrophaeus spores (WIS 39 6/3) were used for CP treatments, because this spore strain is a sterilization surrogate for irradiation and chemical decontamination.
Also a specific inoculation methodology for microorganisms and mycotoxins was developed for each particular product and described in D2.1 and D3.1.
During the development of the trials with each decontamination alternative, different prototype samples were obtained for a further characterization and for an evaluation by the SME partners for a later development of high water content food products. Therefore, treated samples from each product category, namely powders (paprika), herbs (oregano) and seeds (pepper), were delivered from the RTD partners to the SMEs at different moments during WP2 and WP3. Some examples of the treated samples are shown in attachment.
Regarding the results of the application of the different technologies, for the decontamination of herbs and spices there are no specific guidelines or legislations available, which determine a minimum inactivation level, target microorganism or surrogates. Therefore, the SME partners in the project defined a 4 log10 reduction of the total plate count (TPC) as the target inactivation level each decontamination technology has to achieve for the different products.
With regard to the tested cold plasma applications, both, the direct and indirect plasma exposure, had a certain inactivation capability for the tested herbs and spices. The indirect plasma treatment of paprika powder, achieved a really good inactivation (3.25 log10 of the TPC), but had a negative effect on the product colour. The direct plasma treatment of paprika with the DBD-system showed an even more pronounced bleaching of the product colour and a lower microbial inactivation. Consequently, none of the tested plasma systems were suitable to achieve a sufficient inactivation without effecting the product quality.
The impact on the determined quality parameters of oregano was not that severe as for paprika, but the achieved inactivation was far below the wanted 4 log10 reduction of the TPC. Hence, none of the tested plasma systems was suitable for the decontamination of crushed oregano.
From all tested products whole black pepper was the most resistant one, with regard to assessed product quality parameters. This in combination with the lowest product surface/plasma gas ratio enabled a signification reduction of the TPC without affecting the quality. From tested plasma-systems, the indirect plasma source was the most efficient one, which achieved the wanted 4 log10 reduction of the TPC and Salmonella with nearly no impact on the product quality.
In conclusion the indirect plasma application with the process gas of the PLEXc-Microwave plasma system was found the most promising technology for the decontamination of whole black pepper.
The optimum process conditions identified in this study were a 60 min treatment of 5 g of pepper in 245 mL of PLEXc-process gas. Longer treatment times or higher gas concentrations did not further increase the maximum inactivation.
Further advantages of the indirect plasma treatment compared to both direct plasma sources are the higher product throughput and the better up-scaling possibilities of this system. The indirect plasma treatment enables a separation of the plasma and the treatment device. Further, compressed air is used compared to noble gas for the plasma jet and the PLEXc-process gas could be collected and stored at least for some minutes.
The summary of product-process interactions is given in attachment and more detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in whole black pepper are shown in D4.1.
Regarding the application of HPCD+US, the experiments were mainly focused on paprika. It was found difficult to achieve a complete inactivation due to the presence of highly resistant spores. The most influential parameters were the initial moisture and treatment temperature influencing the CO2 attack. The water content may also play a key role in reducing the external pH, which seems to act synergistically with the CO2.
However, initial moisture and temperature values should be kept under 20% and between 50 and 80ºC, respectively, to avoid the alteration of the final quality of paprika. Pressure could be maintained at a relatively low level (150-200 bar) because higher pressures don’t demonstrated to contribute to more effective microbicidal results and may contribute to a partial extraction of capsaicinoids. It appeared to be more important to ensure good contact between the fluid and the powder product.
Under these conditions, treatment times on the order of 30–60min would be enough to achieve the disinfection and total reduction of moulds and yeasts, Enterobacteriaceae and pathogen microorganisms required by the most exigent clients. Nevertheless, this technology has shown that spores or total viable counts were not significantly reduced reaching a max reduction of 0.5 log10 and 1 log10respectively. According to the spice producers, to show the absence of spores in their products it is not a preset requirement and there is not legislation regarding this issue but occasionally some clients specify they need an absence of spores and usually very low levels are accepted. In addition, in most of the studied samples of paprika, total viable counts are in a similar level than spores what means that most of the aerobes present in the samples are spores.
One advantage of the application of HPCD +US is that paprika retains its category in terms of colour and the final humidity would comply with the required levels for secure storage.
As a consequence, taking into consideration that this technology is the one that guarantees the most the sensorial properties of the paprika and the main contaminant are inactivated, this method was proposed as a viable alternative to traditional moist-heat treatments or hydrostatic processes for paprika disinfection.
Decontamination achievements for black pepper and oregano were similar to paprika and higher levels of decontamination of total aerobes and spores were obtained in oregano (up to 2 log10 of total aerobes reduction and 1log10 of spores). No significant changes of colour were observed.
For higher exigencies in the reduction of the total aerobic counts (such as terminal sterilisation) in spices, it would be necessary to combine the technology with the addition of some compounds to the CO2 referenced by different authors (H2O2, mixtures of H2O2, ethanol and water, peracetic and trifluoroacetic acids) of great efficiency. Nevertheless these mixtures are generally only adequate for medical devices or clothing, and would likely be unacceptable for use in food products. (Calvo and Torres, 2010)
The optimum process conditions identified in this study were 80ºC, 30 min and 150 bar in 180 g of paprika with an initial moisture content of 14% and a power of ultrasounds of 75V. Longer treatment times and higher pressures did not further increase the maximum inactivation level.
In attachment are summarised the product-process interactions with respect to the application of HPCD+US. More detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in paprika are shown in D4.1.
With regards to Infrared and Microwaves, these are heating and thermal decontamination methods. Although they differ somewhat in nature compared to conventional methods, they offer few surprises in terms of decontamination ability. As a consequence, in principle any kind of decontamination level can be achieved (if not considering the alteration of sensorial quality) with the two technologies – it is just a matter of how to design the equipment, and what time – temperature to use, combined with an appropriate water activity of the material and ensured heat uniformity.
The IR treatment of oregano resulted in a 5.6 log unit reduction of inoculated B. cereus spores after a 10 min treatment at 90°C. Under the same treatment conditions, the natural flora was reduced to <2 log units for TPC. According to the SMEs the green colour (ΔE 2.44 ± 0.33) was better preserved for the IR treated oregano compared to a typical steam treated oregano sample. The loss of volatile oil was at a similar level as for the steam treated oregano. A significant change of the HS-GC volatile compounds was found in the IR treated oregano. However the key aroma compound carvacrol was not affected to any high degree, indicating that the typical oregano flavour could be preserved. Carvacrol is further known to be connected to the health beneficial properties of oregano.
In the experiments of this project the MW- treated oregano resulted in a less efficient decontamination degree compared to the IR treated oregano, but with another set-up the result could very well have been the opposite. For instance the MW heating of paprika powder resulted in a higher degree of decontamination than the IR heating. Both treatments of paprika fulfilled the requirements of a 4 log reduction of TPC, but also strongly affected the colour of the paprika.
In this project it was decided to select the best technology for each herb/spice based on the ability to reach decontamination levels of 4 log units, also for spices with heat resistant natural flora (i.e. predominantly bacterial spores). MW and IR heating affected sensorial properties of the herb/spices, but were also the only technologies that theoretical could guarantee 4 logs inactivation for any product. More specifically they were considered to be the most successful technologies for oregano. Even though the reduction of the natural flora did not reach a 4 log reduction for the IR treatment this technology was selected to be further evaluated in WP5 for oregano. This because, a high reduction was achieved in the case of inoculated B. cereus spores, and at the same time the sensorial quality was acceptable.
In attachment are summarised the product-process interactions with respect to the application of IR and MW heating . More detailed information regarding these results is in D2.1 and D4.1. In addition, the operational guidelines for the application of indirect plasma in paprika are shown in D4.1.
As a consequence, based on the experimental data, the processing costs calculation were evaluated for the following options:
- An indirect plasma application for the treatment of whole black pepper.
- An ultrasound assisted high pressure carbon dioxide treatment of paprika powder.
- A microwave and infrared heating for the treatment of oregano.
Then the focus was put on the hurdles limiting the transfer of the proposed technologies to an industrial process and the challenges that might be met when transferring some of the needed equipment to industrial scale.
Further a description of research needs for a further development /commercialisation of the chosen product/process combinations were given and a first economic evaluation was done for each process.
Regarding the indirect plasma treatment of whole black pepper, it opens new perspectives for lowering the microbial count on seed surface. However, for a health and/or risk assessment, data for plasma-product interactions are still too scarce. This also applies especially on potential compositional changes in the food, especially with regard to potentially harmful components. Anyhow, the obtained data about the antimicrobial properties of the Plexc-gas towards spores and the TPC are very promising. The processing costs calculation gives a rough estimation about the treatment costs at a larger scale. The calculated 0.12 €/kg (for productions of 200kg/h) are of economical relevance, but they are based on a lot of assumptions. Especially the costs for spare parts have to be taken into account, due to that no data about a long-term operation of the Plexc-system are available. Hence, higher treatment costs are likely.
With respect to HPCD, there are none equipment suppliers that provide supercritical fluid/HPCD equipment for the specific and unique purpose of decontamination of spices/herbs. Equipment suppliers design mainly equipment for extraction processes which is the most requested application, most of them for food applications. Nevertheless, some supercritical fluid/HPCD equipment work in closely related applications such as elimination of pesticides in rice or other cereals and similar dry products; extraction of essential oils in herbs and spices, etc. Equipment suppliers work mainly under turn key projects where the design of the decontamination plant depends mostly on the demand of this application and not in the difficulty of its implementation.
Although HPCD pasteurization has great potential for improving the safety and quality of foods, some technological and regulatory hurdles still need to be overcome before the supply chain can receive these benefits. (García Gonzalez, 2007). A favourable point to take into consideration is that, the HPCD or supercritical CO2 is industrialized today for several applications for extractive purposes and considered as a green process since CO2 is a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) solvent (not toxic nor flammable).
Regarding the economic processing aspects, in the GREENFOODEC project, the costs calculations to treat 200kg/h of paprika with HPCD+US were 0,26 €/kg. In this case the investment costs represented almost 50% of the total costs. Nevertheless, to treat 800kg/h the total costs estimated were 0,13€/kg. This means that the final costs would be reduced with an optimum final production rate. For this reason, after evaluating the suitability of the technology for a given product, and studied the technical and economic feasibility, it is necessary to study the minimum size of a facility for which the investment cost is reasonable.
With regards to both IR and microwave technologies, both are today in use in food industry, and are receiving more and more acceptance, as well as finding niches where they either save energy and costs or have a beneficial impact on the quality; sometimes it goes hand in hand.
Probably the most likely cases where IR and/or microwave decontamination could find successful application would be in one or more of the following cases:
- Incorporation in a steam process, replacing the conventional heat source.
- “Mild” heat treatments where for instance inactivation of spores is disregarded.
- Other niche applications, such as using the technologies in a plant where a combined decontamination and drying process is applied just after harvest.
Before considering the first case it is advisable to perform a “fair” comparison to steam treatment, constructing advanced laboratory or pilot plant equipment and treating various products “on equal terms”. Otherwise there is a risk to draw false conclusions, based on observations that are simply results of differences in the treatments (time - temperature) and/or variations in the treated products.
A steam treatment process has many advantages; in particular if steam (or steam energy) is reused, the process becomes quite energy-efficient. In the same time, microwave and IR heating processes seldom reach efficiencies above 60%. Yet, if the reference system is conventional steam treatment without recirculation of steam, then microwave and IR heating of conditioned raw material (raw material with increased water activity) have a chance to become more comparable in terms of energy-efficiency. However, this requires an efficient method to increase water activity on industrial scale. Such a method may be easy to design for a herb like oregano, since it absorbs moist relatively fast. On the other hand does the colour of oregano seem to be sensitive to “excessive wetting”, which potentially complicates the design.
In the latter two cases of potentially successful application of IR/microwave decontamination, there may be many considerations that are more related to specific goals and needs, inherent in certain processes or products. Such considerations are by nature difficult to specify, since they vary from situation to situation.
Cost analysis for IR and MW indicate production costs in the range of 0,09 – 0,26 €/kg depending on equipment design. This indicates cost efficiency comparable to today’s steam treatment. However, care needs to be taken to compare costs, as well as energy-efficiency, on a basis where the alternatives produce comparable product quality. One should remember that the cost analysis presented here is based on a number of assumptions and hence contains many uncertainties.
The final research actions consisted of studying the shelf-life of high water content food products with added herb/spices treated with the novel decontamination technologies, and compare this to the addition of untreated herb/spices, as well as to the addition of conventional steam treated herb/spices. As a consequence, cold plasma was selected for the treatment of black pepper, high pressure carbon dioxide + ultrasounds for paprika powder and infrared heating for oregano. Two different high water content food products were selected for the study, one mayonnaise and one meat product (fresh meat), representing different formats and composition of foodstuff. Black pepper and paprika powder were added to the sauce, while black pepper and oregano were added to the meat product. A storage study was then performed, under controlled conditions, while continually evaluating the microbial and physicochemical quality of the products.
The aim of this work was to validate the novel decontamination technologies by presenting the outcome of the storage study of the high water content food products with added herb/spices, describing the methods used and the selection of the different high water content food products, as well as the selection of parameters to analyze. Detailed information is given in D5.1.
Regarding the study in mayonnaise, it was observed that the general spoilage of mayonnaise with added spices was faster than in mayonnaise without spices. In addition, in both studies at 8ºC and at 25ºC, the visual spoilage of mayonnaise with paprika was slightly faster than with pepper. In all cases, the study at 25ºC increased the speed of the spoilage, because the microorganisms have an optimum growth temperature.
General loads of total viable counts and moulds and yeast increased in both 8ºC and 25ºC studies in all samples, while spores maintain the original levels at 8ºC. Even if spores have not been reduced significantly with HPCDUS, they remain stable after 14 days in the mayonnaise with added HPCDUS treated paprika stored at 8ºC.
As no Enterobacteria have been found in treated samples, no evolution was observed. Only in non treated samples Enterobacteria increased.
No differences were observed in Total viable counts and spores evolution between Steam and Plasma samples evolution and seem more effective than HPCDUS. This was related to the initial TPC of the spices prior to their addition in the mayonnaise.
Plasma and HPCDUS showed similar efficiency in the Enterobacteria decontamination than Steam treatment. HPCDUS paprika samples showed a lower spoilage caused by moulds and yeasts than plasma and steam in mayonnaise
With regards to the study in meat, when oregano was added to meat pieces, both the IR and steam treatments improved the shelf-life of the meat product considerably compared to the sample with untreated psices. No difference in microbial growth could however be noted between the IR and steam treated samples. Both the IR and steam treated samples kept their colour and oregano smell during storage better than the untreated sample. A similar HS-GC pattern was observed for the IR and steam treated samples during storage, with exceptions for some compounds, e.g. the key aroma component carvacrol, that showed opposite behavior in the IR and steam treated samples. This could possibly be correlated with the more intense oregano smell observed for the steam treated samples in the beginning of the study.
Neither the cold plasma nor the steam treated pepper raw material showed a severe influence on the colour of the pepper corns compared to the untreated samples. The steam treated pepper exhibited however a higher water content compared to the untreated and cold plasma treated pepper. When coarse grinded pepper was added to meat pieces, no obvious difference could be observed in terms of microbial growth, appearance or smell, between the different treatments. The absence of microbial growth made it difficult to draw any conclusion regarding improved shelf-life neither due to cold plasma nor steam treatment of pepper.
As a summary of the work performed during the project, two main documents were prepared. The first one is a technical guide focused on the assessment of new processing solutions for the decontamination of herbs and spices and on the research on technical and economic aspects related to the industrial application of the novel technologies of the study. The second document is the Book of Methods to assess the quality of spices and herbs. This document describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline of methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices.
Potential Impact:
At the beginning of the project, the official public access website was launched at http://www.greenfoodec.eu. It was periodically updated with news about the consortium and its members, about information generated in the project and considered as public and about events of the project itself as well as connected to it. The final VIDEO was also presented in the website. Moreover, the private area of the website, only accessible to project partners and to the REA via the Project Officer, granted access to internal documents (deliverables, dissemination documents, meetings minutes, official reports and working documents).
Another dissemination material to publicise was the project leaflet, which was specially addressed to the spice industry. Two different project leaflets were prepared, one at the beginning of the project and another at the end. The first one introduced the project and presented with high simplicity the present and the expected future situation with regards to the technologies for the decontamination of spices. A total of around 1200 copies were printed in different languages (English, Spanish, Turkish and German). This allowed reaching more industries more easily. The second leaflet was distributed in English and Turkish taking advantage of the final conference celebrated at the end of the project. This leaflet presented the main activities developed during the execution of the project, the main dissemination results and technical results of the project. Both leaflets are also available in electronic format in the project website.
A remarkable effort was made by all the partners in order to contribute to the dissemination of GreenFooDec. The most important activities carried out in this area as well as the scientific publications originated from the project are listed next:
Press releases:
o EGE TELGRAF, February 2012, “Baharat ihracatinda hedef 2 milyar dólar” (Spice Export Target is 2Billion$).
o YENI GAZETEM EGE, February 2012, “Egeli ihracatci AR-GE ile hedefi bulacak” (Aegean Exporters will reach the target with innovation).
o HABER EKSPRES, February 2012, “Ege’nin baharat ihracatinda hedefi 2 milyar dollar” (Aegean Spice Target is 2Billion$ - Aegean Exporters will work for innovation in spice sector with the GreenFoodec project financed by European Commission).
o YENI ASIR, February 2012, “Bharattan Ege’ye 2 milyar dollar”2Billion$ Spice Export for Aegean Region).
o TICARET, February 2012, “Barata inovasyona odaklandi” (Aegean Exporters’ Associations focused on R&D&I in Spice Sector).
o EGE'DE BUGÜN, February 2012, “Baharat sektöründe inovasyon için kollar sivandi” (Aegean Region is ready to innovate in spice sector)
o POSTA IZMIR EGE, February 2012, “barata tat, koku, renk kayiplani en aza inecek” (Losses of Organoleptic properties of spices will be minimized).
o SON DAKIKA, February 2012, “ 150 milyon dolarlik ihracati 2 milyar dolara Çikartacagiz” (We will shift the spice export from 150million$ to 2 billion$)
o YENI GÜN IZMIR, February 2012, “Baharat sektöründe inovasyon atagi” (Innovation in Spice sector).
o SON-AN, February 2012, “Baharat ihracatindaki hedef 2 milyar dólar” (Spice Export Target is 2Billion$).
o Agencia Efe, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor” (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Europa Press, April 2012, “Ainia desenvolupa nous tractaments per a garantir la seguretat alimentària en espècies” (Ainia develops new treatments for food safety in spices).
o ABC, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Iberoamérica, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para que las especias conserven su aroma y sabor”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices flavour and aroma).
o Interempresas, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos garantizan la seguridad alimentaria en especias, conservando sus propiedades organolépticas”. (New treatments for food safety in spices with the preservation of spices sensorial properties).
o Club Darwin, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria en especias” (New treatments for food safety in spices).
o Infoalimentación, April 2012, “Tratamientos en especias” (Spices treatments).
o Agencia Sinc, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Lukor, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Eroski Consumer, April 2012, “Estudian nuevos tratamientos para conservar las propiedades organolépticas de las especias”. (Studying new treatments for the preservation of spices sensorial properties).
o Gran Canaria Actualidad, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias”. (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Solo Ciencia, April 2012, “Nuevos tratamientos para conservar mejor las especias” (New treatments to improve the preservation of spices).
o Canal alimentación, May 12, “Nuevos tratamientos para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria en especias y mantener sus propiedades” (New treatments for food safety in spices with the preservation of spices properties).
o Livsmedel i focus, website and paper version (no 4, 2012), May 2012 (Internet) and May 2012 (paper version), “Nya tekniker ska bevara kryddor” (New technologies will preserve spices).
o European Spice Association Website. http://www.esa-spices.org May 2012, “Europäisches Forschungsprojekt zur Qualitätsverbesserung von Kräutern und Gewürzen gestartet” (Launching a European research project on improving the quality of herbs and spices).
o Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten.May 2012.“Potsdamer Agrarforscher testen „kaltes Plasma“ zur schonenden Entkeimung von Lebensmitteln (Agricultural engineers from Potsdam test "cold plasma" for gentle sterilization of foods.
o Góndola digital and Ediporc Guía May 13, “Las empresas del sector de las especias debaten sobre el futuro del sector en Murcia” (The Spice Sector companies debate the future of the sector in Murcia)
o Asociación de especias, May 2013, “El sector se reúne con éxito en Murcia” (The sector meets successfully in Murcia).
o Aral digital, May 13, “El sector de las especias se reúne para tratar la modificación de la reglamentación” (The Spice sector meets to discuss about the changes in the regulations).
o Alimarket, October 2013. El sector especiero se da cita en el seminario Greenfoodec bajo el título "Oportunidades tecnológicas para la conservación de especias" (The spice industry arrived at Greenfoodec seminar entitled "Technological opportunities for preservation of spices”).
o Cartagena actualidad, October 2013 “Amplia asistencia del sector en el seminario GREENFOODEC”(Extensive attendance to the Spice sector in the GREENFOODEC seminar).
o ATB, February2014. Einsatz von nicht-thermischem Plasma bei Lebensmitteln. (Application of non-thermal plasma for food)
o ANAYURT, June 2014. İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ EKONOMİ, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ GÜN İZMİR, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharatta Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spices).
o HABER EKSPRES, June 2014. Baharat İhracatımızı Artırmak İstiyoruz (We Want to Increase Spice Export).
o TİCARET, June 2014. Baharat Sektörünün Arge Atağı (R&D Attack of Spice Sector).
o DÜNYA, June 2014. Egeli Baharat İhracatçılarından Arge Atağı (Aegean Spice Exporters’ R&D Attack)
o AYDIN HEDEF, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector)
o SON DAKİKA, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o YENİ ASIR, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçıdan Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporter’s R&D Attack).
o SABAH İZMİR EGE, June 2014. Baharat Sektörünün İlk Arge Çalışması (First R&D Activity of Spice Sector).
o ÇİZGİ, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spice Sector)
o EGE’DE BUGÜN, June 2014. Baharat Sektöründe Arge Atağı (R&D Attack in Spice Sector).
o POSTA İZMİR EGE, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Baharatta Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack in Spices).
o AYRINTILI HABER, June 2014. Egeli İhracatçılardan Arge Atağı (Aegean Exporters’ R&D Attack).
Articles Published in the popular press:
o "Technology News"/Gothenburg, Sweden. Development of novel and advanced decontamination Technologies.
o "Aktuellt från SIK"/Gothenburg, SwedenKryddor och örter ska bevaras.
o Rundschau der Fleischhygiene und Lebensmittelüberwachung (RFL), 9, 327-328. Potentielle Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von kaltem Plasma in der Fleischverarbeitung.
o DLG Lebensmittel. 8: 20-21. Schonende Dekontamination von Gewürzen.
Scientific publications (under revision)
o Eliasson, L; Libander, P; Lövenklev, M.; Isaksson, S.; Ahrné, L. Infrared decontamination of oregano: effects on Bacillus cereus spores, water activity, colour and volatile compounds. Journal of Food Science
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Knorr D., Rauh C., Schlüter O.. Remote plasma treatment of various herbs and spices. Journal of Food Engineering.
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Knorr D., Rauh C., Schlüter O. Decontamination of whole black pepper using different cold atmospheric plasma applications. Innovative Food Science and Emerging technologies.
Scientific publications (under preparation)
o Valverde M., Porta s., Capilla V. Microbial inactivation and quality assessment of Paprika using High Pressure CO2 enhanced with ultrasounds. Alimentaria, investigación, tecnología y seguridad
o Isaksson, S.; Eliasson, L.; Lövenklev, M.; Libander, P.; Ahrné, L. Design and validation of laboratory microwave heating equipment, for the decontamination of oregano. Journal of Food Engineering
o Reineke K, Langer K, Hertwig C, Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. The impact of different gas compositions on the inactivation of Bacillus spores by cold atmospheric plasma. Journal of Food Engineering
Conference article:
o Isaksson S. and Succarats R.. Water Activity and Bulk Density Dependence of the Dielectric Properties of Spices and Herbs. ISEMA, Weimar, Germany, September 2013.
Posters:
o Valverde M., Porta s., Capilla V. Application of High Pressure CO2 combined with ultrasounds for the decontamination of paprika (VII CYTA), 2013.
o Isaksson S. and Succarats R. Water Activity and Bulk Density Dependence of the Dielectric Properties of Spices and Herbs. ISEMA, Weimar, 2013.
o Reineke K, Hertwig C, Schnabel U., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter. O. Gentle endospore inactivation on the surface of whole black pepper by direct and indirect plasma treatment. IAFP “European Symposium on Food Safety”, 2013.
o Hertwig C., Reineke K, Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J, Schlüter O. The Impact of an Indirect Plasma Treatment on Bacterial Endospores Inactivation in Aqueous Solutions IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
o Hertwig C., Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Indirect plasma – A non-thermal inactivation method for Salmonella enterica and bacterial endospores on black pepper. IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
Presentations:
o Valverde M. “Presentation of the GreenFooDec European project. Technological opportunities for the preservation of spices”. Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Ferrer J.M. “¿Existen limitaciones legales a los tratamientos de higienización de los alimentos?”.Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Montañés J. “Aplicaciones industriales del CO2 a alta presión en especias”. Training seminar celebrated in Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Weber G. Recent and upcoming problems/ challenges of herbs and spice decontamination. Training seminar celebrated in Bohn, Germany, 2013.
o Reineke K. GreenFooDec Project – Technologies – Products – Results. Training seminar celebrated in Bohn, Germany, 2013.
o Reineke K. and Schlüter O. Cold atmospheric plasma – A gentle way to increase the microbial quality of whole black pepper. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Isaksson S. and Eliasson L. IR and microwave decontamination – alternatives or complements to steam treatment? Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Valverde M. Advances in high pressure CO2 technology in the agrifood. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Oktay Basegmez I. Trends and worldwide regulations on mycotoxin management. Training seminar celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
Conferences:
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Direct and indirect plasma treatment – A promising non-thermal surface decontamination method of whole black pepper. iFood, Hannover, Germany, October 2013
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Bio-efficient inactivation of endospores on whole black pepper by indirect and direct plasma treatment EFFoST Annual Meeting, Bologna, Italy, November 2013
o Schlüter O, Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ehlbeck J. Cold plasma – an innovative inactivation process for bacterial endospores on the surface of whole black pepper. CIGR Section VI, Guangzhou, China, November 2013
o Reineke K. Cold-Atmospheric Plasma- A Gentle Process for Endospore Inactivation on Food Surfaces. IAFP “European Symposium an Food Safety”, Budapest, Hungary, May 2014.
o Hertwig C, Reineke K., Ghadiri A., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O. Non-thermal inactivation of Salmonella enterica and Bacillus endospores on the surface of whole black pepper by indirect plasma treatment. 3rd ISEKI_Food Conference, Athens, Greece, May 2014.
o Reineke K. Non-Thermal Plasma: A Tailor-Made Process for Endospore Inactivation on Food Surfaces. IFT14 „IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo“, New Orleans, USA, June 2014.
o Valverde M. GreenFooDec Project Overview. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Isaksson S. Increasing Product Quality in Oregano: Microwave and Infrared Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Schlüter O. Increasing Product Quality in Pepper: Cold Plasma Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
o Valverde M. Increasing Product Quality in Paprika: High Pressure Carbone Dioxide and Ultrasounds Treatment. Final conference celebrated in Izmir, Turkey, 2014.
Workshops contributions:
o Molina J and Valverde M. “Retos Tecnológicos y Oportunidades para el Sector de las Especias y Afines”, Alicante, Spain, 2013.
o Weber G.and Reineke K. “Results and demands from the industry”, Bohn, Germany, 2013.
Complementary dissemination information is posted in the list of dissemination activities presented in the participant portal.
The first main result of the project consisted on a technical guide with the assessment of each decontamination alternative including the operational guidelines for the tested technologies. This document focused on the definition of the detailed processing conditions for each particular product, more precisely:
• Application of 60 min of indirect plasma treatment of whole black pepper.
• Application of 30 min High Pressure Carbone Dioxide treatment at 80ºC and 150bar with a power of ultrasounds of 75V in paprika.
• Application of IR at 90 °C for a 10 min holding time
These were the treatment conditions taken as a reference for the treatment of each particular product.
The second main result of the project, the book of methods, describes the methods used for the selection, treatment and analysis of herbs and spices, with the main objective to have a guideline for methods to assess the quality of different products: raw material, treated material and high water content food products with added spices. This document is a guide-compilation of the developed methods of analysis in the framework of the GREENFOODEC project, to help the understanding of the obtained results, from the selection of raw materials to the validation of the new technologies in the final high water content food products. It could be a basis of knowledge for future validation studies for herbs and spices or other food products of interest.
As a bridge towards exploitation activities, 3 training seminars and 3 workshops were organised in the framework of the project. More particularly, these events were organized by AEC with the support of AINIA in Spain (September 2013), by FGI with the support of ATB in Germany (November 2013) and by AEGEAN with the support of AINIA in Turkey (June 2014). In all cases, in order to ensure a wider audience, it was decided to group the development of the workshop and the training seminars in the same day or in consecutive days.
The workshops were specifically oriented to the end users. The associations organising the events pretended to explain their associated SMEs and other potential stakeholders the technical achievements obtained from the project. The workshops were oriented in the one hand to promote the project and the activities implemented and on the other hand to present the technical findings and achievements to the participants. During the training sessions more detailed information regarding the project results was given focusing also in methodological and practical aspects. In all cases there was a wide attendance to the events where the public showed special interest in the effectiveness of the different technologies and addressed different specific questions focused on the abilities of the different technologies.
Through the development of these events, producers and companies from the European Union profited from the transfer of the progress in the knowledge of the different technologies tested. They received inputs on the advances in each one of the technologies studied tackling issues like the following: process description; the applications in the food sector, the benefits and limitations of the technologies for decontamination purposes, equipment needs at a lab scale and at an industrial scale.
It is foreseen that the results of this project could have an economic impact in different food sectors with the enhancement of the shelf-life of different food products that will require milder pasteurisation treatments which will imply a reduction in the energy consumption during the pasteurisation treatments, better sensory quality and better image in the market.
There might be a medium-large term implementation of the technologies for decontamination purposes. The advances in the knowledge of the technology and the cause and effect of the different treatment conditions on the products have been positive even if a global solution for all the spices has not been found. Finally, it is considered that with the attained results of the project new opportunities will open for employment in different sectors, such as the equipment design (high pressure, CP, MW), the design of control systems, simulation tools, etc.
List of Websites:
www.greenfoodec.eu
