Drastic Microbial Count Reduction in Soy Milk Using Continuous Short-Wave Ultraviolet Treatments in a Tubular Annular Thin Film UV-C Reactor.

Vegetative cells of and and spores of and were inoculated in soy milk at an initial concentration of ≈5 log CFU/mL. Inoculated and control (non-inoculated) soy milk samples were submitted to three types of treatments using a tubular annular thin film short-wave ultraviolet (UV-C) reactor with 1 mm of layer thickness. Treatments applied depended on the flow rate and the number of entries to the reactor, with UV-C doses ranging from 20 to 160 J/mL. The number of entries into the reactor tube (NET) was established as the most determining parameter for the efficiency of the UV-C treatments. Conidiospores of were reported as the most resistant, followed by spores, while vegetative cells were the most sensible to UV-C, with being more sensible than Treatments of just 80 J/mL were needed to achieve a 5 log CFU/mL reduction of while 160 J/mL was necessary to achieve a similar reduction for spores.