Decontamination of black peppercorn (Piper nigrum L.) using microwave-generated low pressure air plasma
- Publication Type
- Contribution to conference
- Authors
- Argyropoulos D; Janzen O; Krause N; Romano G; Heindl A; Heberle B; Leins M; Schulz A; Voesgen W; Aurich S; Stroth U; Müller J
- Year of publication
- 2011
- Published in
- Proceedings CD of the CIGR International Symposium on "Sustainable Bioproduction - Water, Energy and Food"
- Page (from - to)
- 1-6
- Conference location
- Tokyo (Japan)
- Conference date
- 19-23 September 2011
The preliminary results show that microwave-generated low pressure air plasmas could be a very efficient method for the decontamination of spices since the population of a microorganism (Bacillus subtilis) commonly found in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) was significantly reduced on test substrates in a very short period of time. Based on the experimental results, a laboratory apparatus was developed for the sterilisation of spices.