Optimization of gaseous ozone application in reducing total amount of microorganism in Muntok white pepper

Abstract

Muntok white pepper with export quality has a high economic value. One of the standard quality required for white pepper is total microorganism (TPC). However, Muntok white pepper produced from traditional postharvest method contains high number of total microorganism, thus not fulfilled the standard quality required. Ozone is a potent oxidant that is trusted to be an effective antimicrobial sanitizer for water, food, and food processing surfaces. In the current research, Responsese Surface Modelling (RSM) was employed to investigate the optimum condition of ozonation, consist of: ozone flowrate (1 - 4 L/minute) and exposure time (10 - 40 minutes) with 5 minutes of ozone input in each treatment. The responsese obtained is the maximum reduction of total microorganism (TPC) followed by the validation of the optimum condition of ozonation The use of low flowrate with long ozone exposure time will deliver the lowest TPC value. The application of ozone at the condition of 1 L/min flowrate in 10.85 minutes of exposure time has resulted the TPC value of 4.6 × 102 - 4.95 × 102 CFU/g with the highest validity level of 85.11%