Pulsed Ultraviolet Light

Pulsed Ultraviolet (UV)-Light is an emerging processing technology, which has a potential to decontaminate food products. The light generated by pulsed UV lamps consists of a continuum broadband spectrum from deep UV to the infrared, especially rich in UV range below 400 nm, which is germicidal. In pulsed UV-light system, UV-light is pulsed several times per second and each pulse lasts between 100 ns and 2 ms. The pulsed UV-light has a modest energy input which can yield high peak power dissipation. Many researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of pulsed UV-light on microbial loads on food surfaces. In this paper, various applications of pulsed UV-light treatment of foods found in the literature as well as future research needs will be discussed.