Modeling the effect of peracetic acid/hydrogen peroxide solution concentration and temperature treatment on <i>Bacillus cereus</i> spores inactivation

Cleaning and sanitizing processing equipment are essential for achieving the hygiene standards required in food processing. The term "sanitizing" refers to the inactivation of microorganisms by disinfectants on previously cleaned surfaces and materials. In the food industry, commercial solutions of peracetic acid (PAA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP) show bactericidal and sporicidal activity at room temperature, and are used as disinfectants for food surfaces, fruit, and vegetables, or to sanitize water. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of commercial solutions of PAA and HP on Bacillus cereus endospores as a function of concentration and temperature, in order to optimize its use. Inactivation kinetics were carried at 5 PAA/HP solution concentration levels and three temperature levels. Weibull model fits on concave inactivation kinetics quantified B. cereus spore resistances. A Bigelow-type model quantified the effects of concentration and temperature on spore resistance Weibull model parameters. The parameters of the Bigelow-type model enable to optimize disinfection treatments, reducing the concentration of PAA/HP solutions used by increasing the treatment temperature, while ensuring the same level of disinfectant efficacy against bacterial spores.