Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of the simultaneous application of near-infrared (NIR) heating and UV irradiation for reducing populations of food-borne pathogens, including Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in red pepper powder and to clarify the mechanisms of the lethal effect of the NIR-UV combined treatment. Also, the effect of the combination treatment on quality was determined by measuring changes in color and pungency constituents. Simultaneous NIR-UV combined treatment for 5 min achieved 3.34- and 2.78-log CFU reductions in S. Typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7, respectively, which involved 1.86- and 1.31-log CFU reductions, respectively, which were attributed to the synergistic effect. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses, damage to the cell envelope was identified as the main factor contributing to the synergistic lethal effect of NIR-UV combined treatment. Color values and capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin content of NIR-UV simultaneously treated red pepper powder were not significantly (P > 0.05) different from those of untreated samples. These results suggest that simultaneous application of NIR and UV treatment can be effectively used to control food-borne pathogens in powdered red pepper without affecting quality.