• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.583-590
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• 2019

As the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables increases, food poisoning caused by foodborne pathogen contamination is not decreasing. To prevent the contamination of produce, a quick and easy, low-cost, environmentally-safe disinfection method that does not affect produce freshness or quality is needed. This study demonstrates a new-concept, circulating-water disinfection system that purifies water by using newly developed 'LED-PS (photosensitizer)-induced ROS generation unit'. Using various types of LED-PS induced ROS generation units, we investigated the conditions for reducing the density of various pathogenic bacteria by more than 3 log CFU / mL in 1 hour. The major operational factors affecting the density reduction of the LED-PS-induced ROS generation unit were analyzed. Depending on bacteria species, the density reduction rate was varied. The effect of the units on reducing the density of Bacillus cereus and Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum was high, but the effect on foodborne bacteria such as Escherichia coli was relatively low. In this circulating water disinfection system, the density reduction effect tended to increase as the flow rate increased and the initial bacterial density decreased. As the amount of PS absorbed beads increased, the density reduction effect increased exponentially in some bacteria. Model 3280, a double cylindrical unit connecting two single cylindrical units, could completely sterilize more than 3 log CFU/mL of B. cereus and P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum in 30 minutes of LED irradiation.