Abstract
In this study, electron beam (EB) irradiation was used for the inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus on the surface of polythylene terephthalate (PET) bottle preform and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle caps. The effects of EB irradiation doses (0,1,3,5,7,9 kGy) and original inoculated colony counts (101,102,103,104,105,106,107 CFU/sample) were evaluated on the residues of B. atrophaeus and the quality attributes of bottle caps and preform. A Weibull model for simulating the sterilization data was established by fitting the microorganism inactivation curves with a high coefficient (R2 > 0.93). The reductions of the microorganism lethal rate (log N/N0) up to 7.11log, 6.21log, 5.59log were shown on 38 mm bottle cap, 28 mm bottle cap and bottle preform with the original colony counts of 107 CFU/sample after the EB irradiation treatment at 9 kGy, respectively. The b* values of bottle preform and caps were slightly affected and the highest color change was observed for 28 mm bottle cap treated by 9 kGy EB irradiation, which resulted in a decrease of b* value from −39.86 ± 0.15 to −41.25 ± 0.42. Nevertheless, EB irradiation could be applied in the decontamination of PET bottle preform and HDPE bottle caps under reasonable doses.
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