Development of polymeric and silica filtering materials functionalized with antimicrobial compounds for the elimination of microorganisms in liquid food
In the present doctoral thesis the use of new cellulosic and silica supports as filtering systems for the stabilization and preservation of liquid foods has been evaluated to overcome two major challenges of the beverage industry. On the one hand, avoid or minimize the changes in the nutritional, structural and organoleptic properties of food caused by traditional thermal pasteurization, and offer an alternative to the problem of low viability due to high investment/production costs when applying new non thermal technologies. Therefore, this doctoral thesis focuses on the development and evaluation of a new non thermal technology for the preservation of liquid foods based on filtration. The filtering systems have been developed from cellulosic and silica supports, non modified or functionalized with antimicrobial compounds. In the first chapter, the use of cellulose materials as filtering supports for the treatment of liquid foods was evaluated. As first approximation, a porous nano micro tubular material was developed from the extraction and delignification of the cellulosic material present in the corn stalk. The use of this support was effective as filtering material for the treatment of water and orange juice, in a continuous flow system, eliminating the microbial load. The application of this support as filtering system has several advantages, such as its microbial retention capacity, the reuse of corn by products and, therefore, its respect for the environment. However, it would be necessary to optimize the filtering process to avoid the frequent clogging of its pores that required several washing cycles during the process, as well as to establish a method of material regeneration to increase its life. In addition, this system affected the color of the filtered juice, which did not remain constant during the process, representing an important disadvantage that must be addressed. As a second approach, the potential of the immobilization of a bioactive molecule on cellulose membranes was evaluated to improve the microbial retention capacity of the cellulosic material, as well as to allow its reuse. The cellulose filters functionalized with polyamines proved to be effective in eliminating pathogens in water, due to the positive charges generated by the amine groups immobilized on the surface of the membranes, which attract and retain the negatively charged bacteria. Given the easy preparation and usage of the polyamines functionalized cellulose membranes, these could be considered a good option for the development of fast, easy to use and low cost in situ water treatment systems. The second chapter describes the development and application of silica particles functionalized with essential oil components to design filtering aids with antimicrobial activity. The filtration of various food matrices (water, beer and apple juice) through the supports functionalized with natural antimicrobials proved to be effective in reducing the load of the pathogenic strain Escherichia coli, as well as reducing the endogenous microflora of beer and the juice (lactic acid bacteria, mesophilic, psychrophilic, mold and yeast) The removal capability is due to the combination of physical adsorption and contact inactivation with the essential oil compounds immobilized. In addition, the evaluation of the physicochemical and sensory properties of the liquid foods studied showed a not significant effect, it depends on the size of the silica particles used and the immobilized bioactive molecule. Therefore, the proposed preservation system has a high potential for cold beverage pasteurization processes.