Method for reducing contamination in agricultural and fish products using H2O2

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for reducing contamination in agricultural / fish products, which comprises: determining whether the contamination is microbiological and / or chemical; if so, placing the contaminated agricultural / fish product in containers made of a material resistant to high temperatures, high vacuum and positive pressure and which allow gaseous fluids to circulate; vaporising the agricultural / fish product in a sterilisation device using an aqueous solution containing 300-5000 ppm food-grade hydrogen peroxide to obtain an agricultural / fish product with a 5-log reduction in microbiological contamination and / or a 95% to 99.9% reduction in chemical contamination. Also disclosed is the agricultural / fish product decontaminated using the method of the invention, which has a 5-log reduction in microbiological contamination and / or a 95% to 99.9% reduction in chemical contamination.

Description

[0001] METHOD TO REDUCE CONTAMINATION IN PRODUCTS

[0002] AGRICULTURE AND FISHING, THROUGH THE USE OF H2O2

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to the agricultural and food technical field, because it refers to a method for reducing microbiological and / or chemical contamination in agricultural and fishery products, through the use of food grade hydrogen peroxide.

[0005] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Patent document US6245294 (B1 ) relates to processes and apparatus for the pasteurization of materials, and more particularly to a method and device for killing microorganisms in foodstuffs, such as raw meat, fruits and vegetables by the controlled application of a biocidal treatment gas in a sub-atmospheric environment. The method comprises the first step consisting of isolating the materials from the environment; the second step is exposing the materials to a vacuum; the third step is treating the materials with the treatment gas; the fourth step involves re-exposing the materials to a vacuum; and the fifth step consists of opening the product chamber and returning the materials to the environment. The treatment substance applied is selected from one or more gases, such as steam, ozone, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide, methyl bromide, chlorine, iodine, bromine and formaldehyde; steam is preferred.The treatment gases are applied in a substantially air-free form, defined herein as greater than 80% vol / vol. The use of such gases avoids difficulties related to penetration into surface irregularities, such as pores and voids, which might otherwise have the potential to reduce microbial destruction. Due to their small size, these gases can enter any cavity large enough to contain microorganisms such as bacteria. To illustrate this point, it is noted that Salmonellae are short, straight rods approximately 0.7x10. -6 m thick and 4x10 -6 m long. Simple gas molecules are typically 2x10 -10m in diameter and are therefore 10,000 times smaller than a bacterium. The materials treatable by the method are limited only by the fact that they should not undergo any undesirable physical changes of an irreversible nature. Food-type materials such as meats, fruits, vegetables, and fungi are all susceptible to this process. Meats include fish, shellfish, poultry, pork, beef, and processed meats such as hot dogs and sausages. Fruits include apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, nectarines, papaya, oranges, grapefruit, melons, and pineapples. Seeds include: 1) nuts such as walnuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and almonds; 2) cereals such as corn, wheat, rice, oats, milo, and buckwheat; 3) legumes such as beans and peas, as well as tomatoes and cucumbers. Vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, radishes, cauliflower, peppers, beets, and potatoes.Non-food materials that may be treated include clothing, surgical equipment, agricultural equipment, filtration equipment, storage containers, and growth media. Treatment conditions will vary depending on the materials involved and the degree of pasteurization desired. Vacuum times will normally range from 0.004 to 1 s, preferably from 0.1 to 0.5 s. Absolute vacuum pressures will range from 25.86 to 362 mmHg, preferably from 46.54 to 98.26 mmHg. When treatment is with steam, it is desirable, from the standpoint of thermal efficiency and reduced processing time, to have it as close to its saturation temperature as practical, with this temperature typically in the range of 104.44 to 176.67. S C. Vapor times will normally range from 0.004 to 1 s, preferably from 0.05 to 0.1 s. Corresponding vapor pressures will range from 827.44 to 7240.09 mmHg.

[0007] The method described in document US6245294 (B1) requires subjecting to a second vacuum stage; the pressure and temperature conditions are very high, but said method was carried out only with water vapor, so it does not describe or disclose the conditions of pressure, temperature and times for the treatment of materials with hydrogen peroxide vapor and is only limited to saying that the treatment conditions will depend on the material to be treated and the levels of disinfection desired.

[0008] Patent document US2021 162086 (A1 ) also relates to a method for reducing microbiological contamination in a closed chamber formed by at least two interconnected components. An example of the method being described is that a small volume (0.01 to 0.3 mL) of an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution is dosed onto the head membrane 8, e.g., by dripping or spraying, and then the cap 8 is hermetically connected to the neck collar 2 so that the chamber 6 is sealed. Alternatively, the fluid can also be sprayed onto the inner surfaces of the cap 4. Direct heating of the applied fluid is achieved by microwave radiation. This has the advantage of heating the fluid directly, while the walls of the chamber 6 are only slightly, if at all, heated, so that the radiation itself contributes only indirectly to the reduction of the germ count.At a preferred microwave radiation frequency in the frequency range of 500 to 30 GHz, the fluid evaporates at least partially and is therefore distributed homogeneously within the chamber 6.

[0009] For its part, patent document W02006031957 (A) describes a system for microbially decontaminating a room or other defined area with an antimicrobial vapor, such as hydrogen peroxide in vapor form, or other vapors comprising peracetic acid or other peroxy compounds, aldehydes, such as formaldehyde and the like. The air of a large defined region, such as a room 10 with a volume of the order of 1000-4000 m 3, is drawn through a contamination removal filter 12 and a peroxide destruction catalyst 14 by a blower 16, which is connected to the filter and destroyer by a duct or line 17. The blower optionally draws the air through a dryer, such as a desiccant wheel 18 that removes water vapor. A second blower 20 blows warm air through a saturated portion of the desiccant wheel to remove and expel absorbed moisture into the atmosphere. This process preferably warms the recirculated air from ambient room temperature, typically around 20-40 °C. sC. A series of air quality meters 22 monitor the dry air exiting the blower to determine its hydrogen peroxide vapor absorption capacity. The air is returned to the room 10 through a duct or line 23 and another microbe-blocking filter 24, such as a HEPA filter. Optionally, the duct system includes all or part of a pre-existing HVAC system. When initially beginning a decontamination process, air is circulated through the dryer for a time sufficient to reduce the relative humidity in the room to an acceptable level, preferably below 20% relative humidity. For sealed cabinets, pressure control within the cabinet may be appropriate. For bedrooms, pressure control is not essential and would be addressed on a case-by-case basis.In clean rooms and similar facilities, where the entry of potentially contaminated air into the room must be prevented, the pressure in the room is maintained above ambient.

[0010] Finally, patent document CN103732063 (A) relates to C1-C22 peroxycarboxylic acid compositions, such as mixed peroxycarboxylic acid compositions, having improved antimicrobial efficacy compared to conventional peroxycarboxylic acid compositions due in part to solubilization of the mixed peroxycarboxylic acid compositions using C2-C6 alcohols. The document also describes methods employing the improved microbial efficacy compositions at reduced temperatures, including, for example, use in aseptic cleaning. In a particular aspect of the invention, the improved antimicrobial peroxycarboxylic acid compositions include a C2-C6 alcohol for solubilizing the C1-C22 peroxycarboxylic acids to generate compositions having a lower use concentration.

[0011] Patent documents US2021 162086 (A1 ) W02006031957 (A) and CN103732063 (A) do mention the use of hydrogen peroxide, but they are formulations for aseptic cleaning of rooms, surfaces, and liquids contained in closed containers, which is very well known that peroxide is used for those purposes; but they do not disclose or anticipate its use in reducing microbiological contamination in agricultural and fishing products.

[0012] Therefore, in order to contribute to the solution of the current problems in the state of the art, a method was developed to reduce microbiological contamination in agricultural and fishery products.

[0013] The characteristic details of the present invention are illustrated in the following description, examples and figures, which are attached in an illustrative, but never limiting, manner, where:

[0014] Figure 1 is a flow diagram of the method for reducing microbiological and / or chemical contamination of agricultural products, according to the present invention.

[0015] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The present invention relates to a method for reducing contamination in agricultural and fishing products, fresh and / or dried or dehydrated, preferably reducing microbiological and / or chemical contamination.

[0017] Microbiological contamination can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc., and chemical contamination can be caused by agrochemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, among others; these contaminate and affect agricultural products such as fruits, strawberries, vegetables, tubers, rhizomes, seeds, grains, meats, etc., as well as fish and shellfish.

[0018] Therefore, a first object of the present invention is a method to reduce contamination in agricultural and fishing products, which comprises the following steps: i) determine if the contamination of the agricultural / fishing product is caused by microbiological agents (viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.) and / or chemicals (agrochemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, etc.), by means of conventional analysis techniques that detect the presence of such contaminating agents, and if so;

[0019] (i) place the agricultural / fishery product contaminated by microbiological and / or chemical agents inside containers made of a material resistant to high temperatures, high vacuum, positive pressure, and configured in such a way as to allow the circulation of gaseous fluids to make uniform contact with the agricultural / fishery product to be decontaminated; (iii) subject the agricultural / fishery product, inside sterilization equipment, to vaporization with an aqueous solution containing 300 to 5000 ppm of food grade hydrogen peroxide, and under high vacuum, temperature and time conditions, depending on the agricultural / fishery product and the degree of microbiological and / or chemical contamination, in order to reduce the microbiological and / or chemical contamination; (iv) obtain an agricultural / fishery product with microbiological contamination reduced by 5 logarithms, and / or chemical contamination reduced from 95.0 to 99.9%; and v) packaging the agricultural / fishery product obtained in the previous stage.

[0020] The agricultural / fishery product that can be decontaminated with the method of the present invention can be fresh, turgid, dehydrated or dry.

[0021] The containers where the contaminated agricultural / fishery product is placed are: trays, baskets, hampers, mesh boxes, and / or boxes open at the top with access to gaseous fluids.

[0022] The sterilization equipment used in this method may be an autoclave. In one embodiment of the method of the present invention, the high vacuum, temperature, and time conditions are: -0.00136 to -0.0394 kg / cm 2 , up to 90 s C, for 1 min up to 3 h.

[0023] With the method of the present invention, a reduction in contamination of 5 logarithmic reductions of the initial contamination can be achieved when the contamination is microbiological and is taken as reference to Salmonella spp., or a surrogate organism.

[0024] When the contamination is chemical, this method can achieve a contamination reduction of 99.5 to 99.90%.

[0025] Therefore, the present invention relates to an agricultural / fishery product decontaminated by the method according to the present invention, wherein said agricultural / fishery product acquires a microbiological contamination reduced by 5 logarithms, and / or a chemical contamination reduced from 95.0 to 99.9%.

Claims

CLAIMS A method for reducing contamination in agricultural and fishery products, characterized in that it comprises: i) determining whether the contamination of the agricultural / fishery product is caused by microbiological and / or chemical agents, using conventional analytical techniques that detect the presence of such contaminants, and if so; i) Place the agricultural / fishery product contaminated by microbiological and / or chemical agents inside containers made of a material resistant to high temperatures, high vacuum, positive pressure, and configured in such a way as to allow the circulation of gaseous fluids to make uniform contact with the agricultural / fishery product to be decontaminated; iii) Subject the agricultural / fishery product, inside sterilization equipment, to vaporization with an aqueous solution containing 300 to 5000 ppm of food-grade hydrogen peroxide, under conditions of high vacuum, temperature and time, according to the agricultural / fishery product and degree of microbiological and / or chemical contamination, to reduce the microbiological and / or chemical contamination; iv) Obtain an agricultural / fishery product with a microbiological contamination reduced by 5 logarithms, and / or a chemical contamination reduced from 95.0 to 99.9%; (yv) packaging the agricultural / fishery product obtained in the previous stage. The method of the preceding claim, wherein the agricultural / fishery product is fresh, turgid, dehydrated, or dry. The method of claim 1, wherein the containers in which the contaminated agricultural / fishery product is placed are: trays,. baskets, hampers, wire mesh boxes, and / or boxes open at the top with access for gaseous fluids.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sterilization equipment is an autoclave.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the high vacuum, temperature and time conditions are: -0.00136 to -0.0394 Kg / cm 2 , up to 90 s C, for 1 min up to 3 h.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein for the measurement of the initial microbiological contamination, Salmonella spp. is taken as a reference.

7. An agricultural / fishery product decontaminated by the method according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a microbiological contamination reduced by 5 logarithms, and / or a chemical contamination reduced from 95.0 to 99.9%.