IUVA Food and Beverage Safety Working Group
The IUVA Food and Beverage Safety Working Group has announced the availability of the first edition of the monograph, Ultraviolet LED Technology for Food Applications from Farms to Kitchens.
This edition, edited by Tatiana Koutchma, Ph.D., is intended to provide UV LED manufacturers; food design, production and safety engineers, technologists and scientists; government agencies and regulatory officials; as well as undergraduate and graduate students working in research, development and operations, with broad and readily accessible information on the available science, existing and potential applications to food production of UV LED technology. This book represents the most comprehensive and ambitious undertaking on the subject to date.
Although knowledge on aspects of UV LED applications for curing and point of use consumer-oriented drinking water treatment proliferates, there is limited information about its applicability to enhance the operational efficiencies through the food production supply chain.
Until now, there was not a single reference source of information or monograph available that would integrate modern fundamental and practical knowledge about UV LED light with current food applications and their challenges.
Therefore, as the first edition of the book in the area of food production and processing, Ultraviolet LED Technology for Food Applications from Farms to Kitchens will benefit the food industry, academia, researchers and manufacturers of equipment in this rapidly developing area of UV LED technology.
As more innovations take advantage of the unique properties of near UV and UV LEDs, they will offer numerous unique approaches to safety of food production.
This manuscript will focus on UV LED technology and its unique properties and advantages. It also will summarize the developments and advancement in application areas starting from preharvest, produce production and horticulture, post-harvest sanitation, post-processing storage and consumer safety, as well as point-of-use and preparation applications.
After a brief introduction of LED technology and history of its development, the first chapter will review unique advantages of LEDs for foods and economical, energy saving and sustainability aspects of LED applications for foods. The second chapter discusses the features of manufacturing technology of LED light sources from chips to LED systems in visible and UV range.
The focus of chapters three and four is the review of current research and applications of LEDs in horticulture and crop production, postharvest preservation and produce storage. In chapter five, the next steps of adaptation of UV LED for safety applications by the food industry are discussed. This chapter reviews the germicidal action of UV-A, UV-B, UV-C and blue light, existing research and first reported applications of UV LEDs against foodborne pathogens at multiple wavelengths.
Understanding of bacterial action spectra also is discussed to provide basis for optimization of the most effective treatment using single or wavelength combinations. Considerations for UV LED treatment of fresh produce with some reported effects on quality and nutritional attributes are included.
The considerations of the current technological state and summary of established and potential applications of LEDs in food production, processing and safety conclude the first edition of the book. A second edition is already in the works, tracking solution implementation.
The IUVA Food and Beverage Safety Working Group explores the latest updates on the science-based validation and commercialization of UV-C technology for plant growth stimulation or suppression, nutrition enhancement, fungicide and pesticide reduction, wash water sanitation and post-harvest disinfection, as well as use for nonthermal, low UV-T beverage treatment.
Contact: Tatiana Koutchma, Ph.D., senior scientist, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Guelph Research and Development Center, at [email protected]
Peter E. Gordon, MSEE, VP of business development, Bolb Corporation, Livermore, California, at [email protected]
