Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
To cite this Article Steffen, Hanspeter , Zumstein, Peter and Rice, Rip G.(2010) 'Fruit and Vegetables Disinfection at
SAMRO, Ltd. Using Hygienic Packaging by Means of Ozone and UV Radiation', Ozone: Science & Engineering, 32: 2, 144
— 149
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/01919510903578546
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01919510903578546
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Ozone: Science & Engineering, 32: 144–149
Copyright # 2010 International Ozone Association
ISSN: 0191-9512 print / 1547-6545 online
DOI: 10.1080/01919510903578546
1
Lindenstrasse 39, Utzenstorf CH-3427, Switzerland
2
SAMRO Ltd., Kirchbergstrasse 130, CH 3401, Burgdorf, Switzerland
3
RICE International Consulting Enterprises, Sandy Spring, MD 20860, USA
then treatment with UV radiation in a specially designed duces and markets high-quality machines and systems for
‘‘disinfection tunnel’’. Ozone wash water disinfects the pota- the treatment of agricultural products, principally root
toes while field detritus is removed. UV radiation continues
vegetables (potatoes, onions, beets, carrots), but also
the disinfection and simultaneously destroys remaining
ozone. After being processed in the Ventafresh tunnel, fruits (apples, pears, kiwis, grapes, tomatoes and Sharon
cleansed and disinfected potatoes are stored in a clean fruits), as well as asparagus.
warehouse at high humidity in an atmosphere containing a As is the case in any food handling facility, close attention
lower concentration of ozone. When ready for marketing, must be paid to cleanliness and hygienic sanitation, so as to
the stored potatoes are washed with ozone/water, dried and
reduce microbiological counts to low levels and to extend the
graded, then washed in another bath with ultrasound and
UV radiation, washed again in ozone/water, passed through shelf-lives of the final packaged products. The SAMRO plant
a tunnel while being exposed to UV radiation (185 and 254 in Burgdorf, Switzerland has adopted a combination of mod-
nm), passed through a bath of electrolyzed water, through ern technologies using the Ventafresh technologies (under
another UV tunnel, packaged in a nitrogen þ CO2 atmosphere, license). These technologies involve the application of gaseous
and distributed. The process is applicable to all root vege-
ozone treatments before and during storing of produce, sup-
tables, plus root celery and asparagus, and also to certain
fruits (apples, pears, kiwis, tomatoes, and Sharon fruits). ported by UV-C radiation (UV-254 nm), and also multiple
applications of aqueous ozone, e.g., ozone-water-washing,
ultrasound/electrolyzed-water-washing, and UV radiation
Keywords Ozone, Potatoes, Carrots, Beets, Root Celery, (with ozone generation), then MAP (modified atmosphere
Apples, Pears, Kiwi, Grapes, Sharon Fruits, Toma- packaging) technology. The combinations of technologies
toes, Onions, Asparagus, Ventafresh Technology, that comprise the Ventafresh technologies improve sanitation
Electrolyzed Water, Ultraviolet Radiation, Ultra- within the plant, disinfect food prior to, during, and after
sound, Ethylene Removal
packaging, and thereby extend the shelf-lives of products
leaving the plant for distribution. Application of Ventafresh
technologies at the SAMRO plant will be illustrated by the
following detailed description of potato processing.
equivalent to 22,000 tonnes of potatoes, equating to about 10 modified packaging gas environment (nitrogen and car-
million Swiss francs (Sfr) worth of potatoes lost each year. bon dioxide), and sent to distribution.
Downloaded At: 11:12 28 May 2010
The Ventafresh Disinfection System has been devel- Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the various
oped and applied to improve potato storage conditions steps potatoes undergo at the SAMRO plant. The same
so as to reduce this wasteful loss. The initial procedure treatment can be applied to other root vegetables, such as
consists of three discrete steps: onions, carrots, beets and root celery. With slight mod-
ifications in the engineering details of the processing
1. Cleaning of the potatoes by washing in a specially equipment, the treatment concepts can be applied to
constructed processing tunnel (the Ventafresh Dis- other vegetables and various types of fruit.
infection Tunnel), followed by
2. Treatment with ozone gas in the same tunnel, fol-
lowed by POTATO PROCESSING DETAILS
3. Treatment with UV-C radiation (UV at 254 nm),
which provides additional disinfection as well as Potatoes received in the plant (Figure 2) are passed
converting excess gas-phase ozone into oxygen. through a brushing/cleaning machine to remove field dirt
and debris. This initial cleaning step is conducted without
After cleaning, disinfection and decontamination in water. Potatoes then are loaded into a receiving bin, from
the tunnel, the cleaned potatoes are stored in a large
‘‘potato warehouse’’ under a controlled atmosphere that
also contains low levels of gaseous ozone. When potatoes
are removed for storage for packaging and shipment to
supermarkets and like distribution outlets, they are
washed (in ozone-containing water), dried, graded (auto-
matically using a sophisticated computer program),
washed in ozone/water with ultrasonics (to loosen
remaining dirt particles and microorganisms), exposed
to UV-254 light, then washed in another ozone-contain-
ing bath, placed on a conveyer belt passing through
another tunnel containing UV lights (mostly UV-254
bulbs, but every third bulb is a 185 nm, ozone-generating
lamp), then washed in a bath of electrolyzed water con-
taining initially 0.3% NaCl (3 g/L) – thus, the electro-
lyzed water bath contains some hypochlorous acid and
FIGURE 2. Potato feed bin.
hypochlorite ions – air-dried, packaged aseptically in a
POTATO STORAGE
by corona discharge and held for 5 minutes or more (to Electrolyzed water is produced by means of an Adamant
provide a minimum Ct value of 40 mg/L-min). Technologies (Neûchatel, Switzerland) unit fitted with two
Drying and grading. After initial ozone/water wash- diamond-coated electrodes (www.adamant-technologies.-
ing, the potatoes are dried by means of an air knife com). See Figure 7. Electrolysis conditions are 30 A and
(similar to the kind used in automobile laundries), then ca. 25 V Direct Current with an electrode shift of ca 20
graded using a special sophisticated potato-grading soft- minutes in an automatic cycle. To the water to be electro-
ware developed by SAMRO. This involves photograph- lyzed, 1–3 g of sodium chloride (per liter) is added to the
ing potatoes 30 times within a very short period of time, demineralized water automatically; demineralizing the
then automatic, computerized rejection of below-stan- water prevents calcium-caking at the electrodes.
dard potatoes on the basis of poor shapes, surface The concentrations of free radicals in aqueous solution
damages and off-colors. Potatoes passing this grading can be adapted as the plant desires from 1 to 140 mg/L (the
procedure move to the next step. SAMRO plant uses 50–100 ppm of free radical strength for
UV and ultrasonics bath. In this step, the graded washing potatoes). Higher levels require an increase in salt
potatoes are sent to a water bath where they are subjected concentrations. Approximately half of the amount indicated
to ultrasound. This dislodges tiny dirt particles that may analytically as mg/L are free oxidative radicals. Free radicals
still remain in the potato eyes, as well as dislodging
microorganisms that may still be adhering to the potato
surfaces. Ultrasound also provides excellent biocidal
effects by destroying cell membranes by cavitation.
On their way from this bath to the next ozone/water
washing bath (#2), the potatoes are passed under UV-C
radiation (254 nm; 23,000 micro-Watts/cm2/sec ) as they
move through a tunnel on a conveyor belt (Figure 6).
During this exposure, the potatoes are turned constantly
by the turning rollers on the conveyor belt, thus guaran-
teeing several minutes of exposure to the UV radiation.
DRYING AND MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE Table 2 compares costs for the three procedures.
PACKAGING Calculations for the Ventafresh technology are based on
renting two Ventafresh Disinfection Tunnels, each able to
Potatoes washed in electrolyzed water (with ultra- process 15 tonnes/h of potatoes. For 6,000 tonnes of
sound) are passed through a UV tunnel where they are potatoes to be stored, the cost is Sfr 0.50 per kg. Data
exposed to UV-254 and to ozone (generated by UV-185 in Table 2 show that already in the first year, Ventafresh
radiation). Every third or fourth UV bulb is an ozone- technology saves Sfr 308,000 over cold storage, and Sfr
generating bulb, and during this time, the potatoes are 158,000 over natural storage.
dried. Figure 8 shows a comparison of costs for potato storage
The dried potatoes then are packaged in 1, 2, 2.5, and between the Ventafresh technology, cold storage and nat-
5 kilogram sizes. The bags are flushed with nitrogen, and ural storage over 10 years. Also shown are the cost savings
toward the end of this flushing, some CO2 is added. The provided by Ventafresh over the same 10-year period. Costs
bags are sealed, and are ready for distribution. for Ventafresh are always lower than costs for cold storage
From the time the potatoes leave the electrolyzed and for natural storage, and after 10 years, Ventafresh is
water washing bath, they are handled aseptically. No projected to save more than Sfr 2 million.
longer do they see daylight, nor are they exposed to
ambient air. When the consumer opens the bag, all of CONCLUDING REMARKS
the potatoes contained are clean and there are no sprouts.
Ventafresh processing of potatoes not only maintains Ventafresh technological approaches to food handling
bacteriological cleanliness, but also prevents sprouting. and processing for distribution to wholesale and retail stores
TABLE 1. Comparison of Potato Storage Parameters – Ventafresh, Cold and Natural Storage
6,000,000
Savings
Downloaded At: 11:12 28 May 2010
4,000,000
2,000,000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Year
provides state-of-the art approaches for maintaining as of this writing. Machines for this new food processing
hygiene and above all, controlling microorganisms on the technology are engineered and manufactured by SAMRO
foods before, during and after storage, and into packaging. and SwissFood Tech Gmbh, both of Switzerland. A lead-
These techniques include the use of gaseous ozone (gener- ing Swiss vegetable and fruit transportation and proces-
ated by both corona discharge and by UV-185 nm radia- sing firm, Steffen-Ris AG, is testing Ventafresh
tion), aqueous ozone (generated by corona discharge), UV- technologies as well, and were planning to install the
C radiation (254 nm), ultrasonics, electrolyzed water, and commercial system later in 2007. This commercial-scale
modified atmosphere packaging (under nitrogen and CO2). demonstration study was supported by both the Swiss
The processing of potatoes has reached the full com- Federal Research Station and Steffen-Ris AG. The pri-
mercial scale at the SAMRO plant, and processing con- mary emphasis of this study was on the shelf-life of the
ditions for other vegetables and fruits are being developed Ventafresh-processed potatoes.