JPH0811058B2 - Sterilization method of heat-resistant spore bacteria - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sterilization method for heat-resistant spore bacteria, more specifically, food, food industrial materials or pharmaceutical industrial materials (hereinafter,
These may be collectively referred to as food. ), The sterilization method of heat-resistant spore bacteria. Incidentally, in the present invention, the food is not only ordinary food but also food raw materials, food materials,
The term "food industry materials" is used to include processed food products and the like, and the food industry material means equipment, tools, etc. in the food industry. Similarly, the pharmaceutical industrial material means equipment, tools, etc. in the pharmaceutical industry.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally for example Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bac
illus coagulans, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridiu
Heat-resistant spore bacteria such as m sporogenes are known as bacteria that are difficult to sterilize in boiling water, and food, food industry materials or pharmaceutical industry materials are easily contaminated by these heat-resistant spore bacteria, and food and food industry materials. Or, pharmaceutical industry materials, normal sterilization treatment, for example, after boiling water treatment, such heat-resistant spore bacteria will remain and eventually allow the bacteria to grow, causing deterioration of foods or pharmaceuticals,
Especially in foods, the taste has been significantly reduced.

As a method for sterilizing heat-resistant spore bacterium that adversely affects food and the like, (1) put food and the like in a pressure resistant container, pressurize with steam, and sterilize by heating at 120 ° C. A high temperature and high pressure method, and (2) a radiation irradiation method of sterilizing by irradiating X rays or γ rays.

However, (1) the high-temperature and high-pressure method treats at a high temperature of 120 ° C., so that the physical properties of foods and the like change remarkably, causing a significant deterioration in taste, especially for foods. However, it has a drawback that it requires a large amount of heat energy.

In addition, (2) the irradiation method does not guarantee the safety of food that has been irradiated, so it cannot be applied to food indefinitely, and even if the food is guaranteed to be applied, it is necessary to sterilize heat-resistant spore bacteria. The radiation dose used is significantly higher than the radiation dose normally used for food (for example, to prevent germination of potatoes), so expensive equipment is required, and the risk of radiation damage to workers is high. It had problems such as high cost.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The present invention does not require a special device, equipment, without causing changes in physical properties of foods, etc., safely and easily at low sterilization cost, sterilizing heat-resistant spore bacteria contaminating foods, etc., aseptic foods, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method capable of obtaining a food industrial material or a pharmaceutical industrial material.

[Means for solving problems]

The present inventor has conducted intensive studies in view of the above problems, foods,
The inventors have found that heat-resistant spore bacteria can be sterilized by adding a predetermined amount of hydrogen peroxide to food or pharmaceutical industry materials and heating at 60 to 90 ° C, and completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention is to add hydrogen peroxide to foods, food industrial materials or pharmaceutical industrial materials, and heat-treat at 60 ° C to 90 ° C so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration after treatment is 25 ppm or more. The present invention provides a characteristic method for sterilizing heat-resistant spore bacteria.

In the present invention, hydrogen peroxide water is added to a food or the like, or an immersion liquid of the food or the like, a solution of the food or a suspension of the food, or the like, with stirring for a predetermined time at a predetermined temperature. The sterilization of heat-resistant spore bacterium is achieved by heating to the above. Of course, the order of the respective unit operations may be appropriately changed, and for example, peroxidation may be carried out by heating a food or the like, an immersion liquid of the food or the like, a solution of the food or a suspension of the food or the like to a predetermined temperature. The sterilization of the heat-resistant spore bacteria can also be achieved by adding hydrogen water and treating the mixture for a predetermined time with stirring as necessary.

Further, in the present invention, if desired, post-treatment of decomposing residual hydrogen peroxide with catalase may be applied to a treated product such as food after sterilization or a treated liquid. This post-treatment can be carried out in the same manner as a usual enzyme reaction treatment. For example, a treated product such as the above food or a treating solution is brought to a predetermined temperature, and a powder, solution or suspension of catalase or a catalase-containing substance is added. However, it may be carried out for a predetermined time with stirring if necessary.

In the present invention, foods, food industry materials, or pharmaceutical industry materials are objects to be sterilized by heat-resistant spore bacteria.

Examples of the food include foods such as agricultural foods, marine foods, livestock foods, forest foods and processed foods thereof, as well as food raw materials, food materials and processed food materials. For example, kneaded foods such as kamaboko, chikuwa, fish sausage, hamburger, cooked rice, boiled beans, tsukudani, konjac, flour, milk powder, and various canned, bottled, and bagged foods are exemplified.

In the present invention, the form of the food used is liquid, semi-liquid, powder, granules, granules, lumps, etc. immersed in a liquid such as water, their solutions, suspensions, pastes, etc. Examples include those impregnated with water and the like.

Examples of food industrial materials include equipment, containers, tools, etc. used in the production, processing, processing, etc. of the above foods, for example, cloths, knives, bowls, other cooking utensils, packaging films, glass containers, plastic containers. Examples include various treating agents such as activated carbon for filtering agents.

Examples of pharmaceutical industrial materials include equipment, containers, tools, etc. used for manufacturing, processing, and processing of pharmaceuticals, such as syringes, glass / plastic bottles, packaging films,
Examples are a sterilization filter, a mixer, a tableting machine and the like.

Food industry materials or pharmaceutical industry materials are food, medicine,
Pharmaceutical materials, pharmaceutical raw materials, etc. may adhere to those materials, and those materials may be contaminated with heat-resistant spore bacteria, and sterilized by the method of the present invention, and aseptic food industrial materials or pharmaceutical industrial materials are provided. .

The hydrogen peroxide solution to be used may be a commercially available one, but it may also be appropriately diluted with water or the like. In addition, various hydrogen peroxide-containing liquids, various substances containing hydrogen peroxide,
Various substances that generate hydrogen peroxide are also used. Generally, 0.1 to 60% hydrogen peroxide solution is used, but it may be out of this concentration range.

In the present invention, the heating temperature for adding and heating hydrogen peroxide solution is usually 60 to 100 ° C, preferably 70 to 90 ° C. If the temperature is 55 ° C or lower, the bactericidal effect is low, for example, the treatment takes a long time, and at 100 ° C, the economical efficiency due to the heat efficiency is reduced, and in the case of foods, the deterioration is remarkable depending on the type. Furthermore, if the temperature is 105 ° C or higher, special equipment and devices are required, resulting in poor economy.

In the sterilization treatment, the pH of the treated material is usually 4 to 10, preferably 5 to
Done at 9.

The heating time varies depending on the amount of hydrogen peroxide per unit weight of the food or processed product or the heating temperature, but in practice it is usually 5 to 60 minutes, preferably 10 to 30 minutes. If the heat treatment time exceeds this range, of course, there is no problem, but the economy becomes poor.

As the heating method, a method of immersing in hot water, a method of generating steam in an airtight container, a method of allowing steam to pass in an open container, and the like are used. Moreover, if there is a heating step of 60 ° C. or higher in the food manufacturing process, that step can be used.

In the present invention, the amount of hydrogen peroxide solution added varies depending on the target food, but it is added so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration in the system after the heat sterilization treatment is 25 ppm or more.

A preferred mode of adding hydrogen peroxide is, for example, 60 ° C.
The amount of residual hydrogen peroxide within 15 minutes should be 25 ppm or more.

In the present invention, when post-treatment of decomposing hydrogen peroxide by adding catalase is performed, for example, the temperature of the sterilized product is usually 0 to 70 ° C, preferably 10 to 60 ° C, and the pH of the processed product is 4
The amount of catalase may be added to the treated product in accordance with the remaining amount of hydrogen peroxide while stirring is adjusted to 9 to 9, preferably 6 to 9, and the mixture may be stirred if necessary. The time required for this post-treatment varies depending on the total activity of the catalase used, but is usually 0.5 to 24 hours, and preferably 2 to 5 hours for practical use.

In the sterilization treatment or the post-treatment according to the present invention, various additives, processing aids and the like usually used in the food industry can be appropriately added.

In addition, the sterilization method according to the present invention is not limited to heat-resistant spore bacteria, and can be naturally used as a sterilization method for general microorganisms having no heat resistance, such as bacteria, fungi or yeasts.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples.

Example 1 5% hydrogen peroxide solution was added to 10 g of GAM broth medium containing 2.3 × 10 ⁵ / ml Clostridium botulium type A heat-resistant spores so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration would be 500 to 1000 ppm. Then, this was heat-treated at 60-100 ° C for 15 minutes, and the number of surviving spores and the amount of residual hydrogen peroxide of the treated product were measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Example 1 The same tests and measurements as in Example 1 were carried out except that 3% hydrogen peroxide solution was added so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration was less than 500 ppm or the heating temperature was 50 ° C. or less. Carried out. The results are shown in Table 1 as Comparative Example 1.
It is also shown.

Example 2 10% hydrogen peroxide solution was added to 100 g of Kamaboko or potato salad inoculated with about 10 ⁵ / g of Clostridium sporogenes heat-resistant spores while stirring so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration would be 1000 ppm, and the mixture was heated at 80 ° C. for 30 minutes. Heated. The results of measuring the number of surviving spores and the amount of residual hydrogen peroxide are shown in Table 2. After the above sterilization treatment, the temperature of the treated product is set to 25 ° C and the catalase 50,000U / ml solution
After adding 2 ml and stirring for 2 minutes and leaving for 4 hours, the amount of residual hydrogen peroxide in this post-treated product of catalase was measured. The results are also shown in Table 2.

Comparative Example 2 The same tests and measurements as in Example 2 were carried out except that 5% hydrogen peroxide solution was added so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration was 500 ppm. The results are shown in Table 2 together with Example 2 as Comparative Example 2.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, food, sterilization of heat-resistant spore bacteria in food industry materials or pharmaceutical industry materials, without high temperature treatment, and without the need for expensive or special equipment, equipment Moreover, there is no deterioration of food or the like due to heat, and it can be performed with a small heat cost.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since high pressure or radiation is not used, the work can be safely performed, and sterilization can be performed by using a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, and the post-treatment is performed by using catalase. In this case, the residual hydrogen peroxide can be removed, and the safety of the sterilized product can be ensured.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of adding hydrogen peroxide to food, food industry material or pharmaceutical industry material, and heat-treating at 60 ° C. to 90 ° C. so that the hydrogen peroxide concentration after treatment is 25 ppm or more. Sterilization method for heat-resistant spore bacteria.