Inactivation kinetics and factors of variability in the pulsed light treatment of Listeria innocua cells.

Pulsed light (PL) treatment can effectively reduce microbial populations in clear substrates and on surfaces, but its effectiveness varies as a function of substrate or treatment-related factors. For PL to be successfully adopted by the food industry, all factors of influence, as well as the inactivation kinetics for the microorganisms of concern, must be elucidated. In this study, the inactivation kinetics of Listeria innocua and the effect of inoculum size on PL inactivation were investigated.

Effect of spectral range in surface inactivation of Listeria innocua using broad-spectrum pulsed light.

Pulsed light (PL) treatment is an alternative to traditional thermal treatment that has the potential to achieve several log-cycle reductions in the concentration of microorganisms. One issue that is still debated is related to what specifically causes cell death after PL treatments. The main objective of this work was to elucidate which portions of the PL range are responsible for bacterial inactivation.