Title page for ETD etd-07102009-040603
|Type of Document
||Keller, Scott W.
||Aerosol exposure biotesting for package integrity testing
||Master of Science
||Food Science and Technology
|Blakistone, Barbara A.
|Hackney, Cameron Raj
|Marcy, Joseph E.
|Date of Defense
The objective of this study was to determine how hole
diameter, channel length, test organism motility,
concentration and aerosol exposure time affected
microbiological contamination of sealed flexible pouches.
Nickel microtubes with 10 μm and 20μm hole diameters and
lengths of 5 mm and 10 mm were used in various combinations
to create seal defects in 128 retortable pouches. A 119,911
cm3, exposure chamber was used to distribute an aerosol with
a particle size of 2.68 μm, infected with motile and
isogenically mutated nonmotile Pseudomonas fragi TM 849 in
concentrations of 102 or 106 cells/mL. Fifteen and 30
minute aerosol exposure times were used. Six pouches tested
positive for test organism growth after a 72 hour incubation
period. Pouch contamination via microbial ingress was
significant (P < .05) for test organism motility (motile)
and concentration (106 cells/mL).
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