A novel continuous hydrodynamic cavitation technology for the inactivation of pathogens in milk

Xun Sun; Xiaoxu Xuan; Li Ji; Songying Chen; Jingting Liu; Shan Zhao; Seulgi Park; Joon Yong Yoon; Ae Son Om

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105382

A novel continuous hydrodynamic cavitation technology for the inactivation of pathogens in milk

Ultrason Sonochem. 2021 Mar:71:105382. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105382. Epub 2020 Nov 13.

Authors

Xun Sun¹, Xiaoxu Xuan², Li Ji³, Songying Chen⁴, Jingting Liu⁵, Shan Zhao⁶, Seulgi Park⁷, Joon Yong Yoon⁸, Ae Son Om⁹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China. Electronic address: xunsun@sdu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China. Electronic address: xiaoxuxuan@sdu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China. Electronic address: liji@sdu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China. Electronic address: chensy66@sdu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China. Electronic address: liujingting@sdu.edu.cn.
⁶ Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China. Electronic address: szhao@sdu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Food and Nutrition, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: tmfrl13@hanyang.ac.kr.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: joyoon@hanyang.ac.kr.
⁹ Department of Food and Nutrition, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: aesonom@hanyang.ac.kr.

Abstract

Hydrodynamic cavitation is a powerful tool for the enhancement of various processing applications. This study utilizes continuous hydrodynamic cavitation (CHC) for the inactivation of pathogens in milk for the first time. The thermal characteristics, inactivation performance, damage on the nutritional composition, product safety, and cost of the advanced rotational hydrodynamic cavitation reactor at pilot scale were comprehensively investigated. The inactivation results demonstrated that 5.89, 5.53, and 2.99 ± 0.08 log reductions of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus were achieved, respectively, at a final treatment temperature of 70 °C for 1-2 s. Moreover, the detrimental effect of CHC on the nutritional composition of milk, including mineral, fat, protein, and vitamin contents, was similar to that of high-temperature short-time method. The change in the concentrations of general bacteria and E. coli, as well as the pH value and acidity of the CHC treated milk stored at 5 °C for 14 days was found to be close to that of low-temperature long-time pasteurized milk. The cost of the present CHC treatment was $0.00268/L with a production rate of 4.2 L/min. CHC appears to be a remarkable method for the continuous processing of milk, as well as other liquid foods with high nutrition and "fresh-picked" flavor, due to its high efficacy, good scalability, high production capacity, and low operating and equipment costs.

Keywords: Bacterial inactivation; Continuous hydrodynamic cavitation; Milk treatment; Nutritional composition; Safety; Thermal characteristics.

MeSH terms

Animals
Food Handling / instrumentation*
Hydrodynamics*
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Microbial Viability*
Milk / microbiology*
Nutritive Value