Evaluation of the Properties of Electrochemically Activated Water
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Evaluation of the Properties of Electrochemically Activated Water on Different Salt Compositions and its Capabilities as an Antimicrobial, Cleaning, and Allergen Control Solution. A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY DANIEL MARINO IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE JOELLEN M. FEIRTAG, ADVISOR DECEMBER, 2016 © Daniel Marino 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my advisor, Dr. Joellen Feirtag, for taking me in, teaching me how interesting food safety is, and making me appreciate microbiology. I want to thank all of the members of the Feirtag lab, past and present, for always willing to help out in a time of need and for all their support and encouragement. I also want to thank my friends for always being there to support me and for their understanding when I would disappear for days when lab work piled up. Finally, I want to thank all of the friends and colleagues I have made here at the University of Minnesota. All the fun times we had getting to know each other and all of the time spent commiserating when nothing was going right in the lab made my time at the U truly enjoyable. i ii DEDICATION I want to dedicate my thesis to my parents due to their endless support during my academic pursuits. I also want to dedicate this thesis to all the teachers and mentors I have had since the start of my academic career. They fostered my love of science and pushed me to become the scientist I am today. iii ABSTRACT Electrochemically Activated (ECA) water has received high amounts of attentions as a novel sanitizer that has potent antimicrobial capabilities as well as being safe to handle. Although it also has cleaning capabilities, those are often overlooked due to how well it performs as an antimicrobial. The present study was performed to improve the knowledge of ECA water as a cleaner and other potential roles in the food industry. The first experiment investigated various different salts used to produce ECA water and showed that NaCl and KCl created strong and usable cleaners and sanitizers. The second experiment attempted to understand how dilute ECA water could be before antimicrobial and cleaning capabilities were lost. Due to the strength of ECA water in both of these uses, the solutions could withstand large dilutions. The third experiment attempted to see if ECA water could successful be used as an allergen control system. The findings showed that ECA water was successful in removing allergens from stainless steel and tile but struggled on plastic and rubber surfaces. The last experiment was aimed at applying ECA water into a processing system. The data showed that seeds contaminated with Salmonella could be soaked for 12 hours and receive a ~5 log10 reduction in bacterial load. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. i DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT. ................................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER 1: ................................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION TO ELECTROCHEMICALLY ACTIVATED WATER ............................ 3 Production of ECA Water ..................................................................................................... 5 How It Works ........................................................................................................................ 7 Effect of Chlorine Species ..................................................................................................... 7 Effect of Oxidation Reduction Potential ............................................................................... 9 Effects of pH and Hydrogen Bubbles .................................................................................... 9 Disadvantages of ECA Water .............................................................................................. 10 APPLICATIONS OF ECA WATER IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY ......................................... 11 Fruits and Vegetables .......................................................................................................... 12 Eggs and Poultry ................................................................................................................. 13 Seafood ................................................................................................................................ 14 FOOD SANITATION AND CLEANING ............................................................................... 15 Cleaning and Sanitizing ....................................................................................................... 16 Why Do We Clean and Sanitize? ........................................................................................ 17 Foodborne Soils ................................................................................................................... 19 Foodborne Microorganisms ................................................................................................. 21 Current Methods of Cleaning and Sanitizing ...................................................................... 24 What a Cleaning Compound Should Be .............................................................................. 24 Types of Cleaning Compounds ........................................................................................... 26 Current Sanitizing Methods ................................................................................................. 29 Common Chemical Sanitizers ............................................................................................. 31 ALLERGEN CONTROL IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY .......................................................... 34 v Considerations for Prevention of Allergen Cross Contact in a Food Plant ......................... 36 Cleaning as an Allergen Control Measure ........................................................................... 37 Verification and Validation of Allergen Cleaning .............................................................. 38 CHAPTER 2: ................................................................................................................................. 41 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 42 MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................................. 44 Electrochemically Activated Water Production: ................................................................. 44 Free Available Chlorine, ORP, and pH Testing: ................................................................. 44 Cleaning Effectiveness Factor ............................................................................................. 45 ATP Cleaning Verification .................................................................................................. 45 Antimicrobial Capabilities ................................................................................................... 46 Statistical Analysis .............................................................................................................. 47 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 48 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 3: ................................................................................................................................. 57 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 58 METHODS AND MATERIALS ............................................................................................. 59 Electrochemically Activated Water Production .................................................................. 59 Free Available Chlorine, ORP, and pH Testing .................................................................. 59 Antimicrobial Capabilities ................................................................................................... 60 ATP Cleaning Verification .................................................................................................. 60 Statistical Analysis .............................................................................................................. 61 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 62 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 4 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….66