New line intersection procedure for the equivalent point method of thermal evaluation

Abstract

A new Line Intersection (LI) procedure for determining sterilization value (F0) and quality or nutrient retention (cook value: C0) was developed using the original Equivalent Point Method (O-EPM). Analysis of 30 conventional and 5 simulated thermal curves showed excellent agreement between F0 values determined by the new LI method and the traditional General Method (GM). The new LI method performed better than the O-EPM in yielding more accurate estimates of F0 and C0 values as shown by the relatively low errors. The difference between F0 (GM) and F0 (LI) expressed as percent of F0 (GM) for conventional curves ranged from -0.01% to 0.78% while that between F0 (GM) and F0 (O-EPM) ranged from -0.18% to 38.78%. Similar results were obtained for C0 values.