Inactivation of conidia from three Penicillium spp. isolated from fruit juices by conventional and alternative mild preservation technologies and disinfection treatments.

Fungi are able to grow on diverse food products and contribute to food spoilage worldwide causing food loss. Consumers prefer freshly squeezed fruit juices, however, the shelf life of these juices is limited due to outgrowth of yeast and fungi. The shelf life of pulsed electric field (PEF) treated juice can be extended from 8 days up to a few weeks before spoilage by moulds becomes apparent. Conidia produced by three Penicillium ssp. (Penicillium expansum, Penicillium buchwaldii and Penicillium bialowiezense), previously isolated from spoiled PEF treated fruit juice and smoothie, were characterized for resistance towards selected mild physical processing techniques in orange juice and toward sanitizers on surfaces. The results show that Penicillium spp. conidia are susceptible to mild heat, high pressure pasteurization (HPP), PEF, cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), UV, and chemical sanitizers chlorine dioxide and hypochlorite albeit with different susceptibility. Treatment with mild heat, HPP, PEF, or chlorine dioxide reduced conidia by more than 5 log. For hypochlorite, UV, and CAP the reduction was between 1 and 3 log. Together, this study provides data for the development of intervention strategies to eliminate spoilage mould conidia in fruit juices.