Experimental Investigation of the Ultra-high Pressure Sterilization

The ultra-high pressure sterilization is a novel method for food processing and has a promising future in food industry. Several influencial parameters in the sterilization with this method, including processing pressure, sustaining time and pH value, are studied using Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, which commonly exist in foods, as the objects of the experiments. The results indicate that the reductions of microorganisms increase with an increase of processing pressure and sustaining time. While the effects of high-pressure and sustaining time on Microorganisms vary gently after they reach a certain value. A acidic medium or alkaline medium are helpful for high pressure sterilization, and the neutral circumstance is the last choice for it. We also have studied the activity of Bacteria after high-pressure sterilization. The results show that the activity of Escherichia coli reduces after high-pressure treatment. The study provides some valuable references to optimize of high-pressure sterilization process.