Fundamental Characteristics of Deep-UV Light-Emitting Diodes and Their Application To Control Foodborne Pathogens
ABSTRACTLow-pressure mercury UV (LP-UV) lamps have long been used for bacterial inactivation, but due to certain disadvantages, such as the possibility of mercury leakage, deep-UV-C light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs) for disinfection have recently been of great interest as an alternative. Therefore, in this study, we examined the basic spectral properties of DUV-LEDs and the effects of UV-C irradiation for inactivating foodborne pathogens, includingEscherichia coliO157:H7,Salmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium, andListeria monocytogenes, on solid media, as well as in water. As the temperature increased, DUV-LED light intensity decreased slightly, whereas LP-UV lamps showed increasing intensity until they reached a peak at around 30°C. As the irradiation dosage and temperature increased,E. coliO157:H7 andS. Typhimurium experienced 5- to 6-log-unit reductions.L. monocytogeneswas reduced by over 5 log units at a dose of 1.67 mJ/cm2. At 90% relative humidity (RH), onlyE. coliO157:H7 experienced inactivation significantly greater than at 30 and 60% RH. In a water treatment study involving a continuous system, 6.38-, 5.81-, and 3.47-log-unit reductions were achieved inE. coliO157:H7,S. Typhimurium, andL. monocytogenes, respectively, at 0.5 liter per minute (LPM) and 200 mW output power. The results of this study suggest that the use of DUV-LEDs may compensate for the drawbacks of using LP-UV lamps to inactivate foodborne pathogens.