Development of a pasteurization method based on radio frequency heating to ensure microbiological safety of liquid egg

Radio frequency (RF) heating is considered to be a promising pasteurization technology to control microorganisms in various types of foods without damaging product quality. In this study, liquid whole egg (LWE), liquid egg white (LEW) and liquid egg yolk (LEY) were artificially contaminated by Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) and treated by RF heating. A 5.62 log reduction of S. Enteritidis was achieved in LWE by RF heating for 220 s at an electrode gap size of 120 mm. Similarly, the population of S. Enteritidis was reduced by 4.36 log in LEW and 5.31 log in LEY after 285 s and 180 s of RF heating with a 125 mm electrode gap size, respectively. In comparison, conventional pasteurization reduced the pathogen by 5.86, 2.47 and 2.20 log in LWE (64.5 degrees C, 3.5 min), LEW (55 degrees C, 3 min) and LEY (64 degrees C, 3.5 min), respectively. Importantly, the RF treatment did not cause apparent change in color value, emulsibility and foamability of liquid egg products. The quality of liquid egg products was not significantly different (p > 0.05) between conventionally pasteurized and RF heating treated samples. These results suggest that RF heating is an effective way to control S. Enteritidis in liquid egg products while maintaining acceptable quality of the products.

Automated summary

RF heating effectively controls S. Enteritidis in liquid egg products without causing significant changes in product quality.