BIOL110 Principles of Biology

This essay describes the new technology that utilizes electric fields to influence the growth of microorganisms. In a research article published by Mark Shamtsyan in 2012, it has been mentioned how alternating electric fields of varying frequency levels ranging from 10 to 400 Hz affect the growth of various microbes (Shamtsyan 2012). It was found that electric fields of frequency between 10 to 60 Hz stimulated the growth but higher frequencies inhibited growth. After treating streptococci for a period of 1 hour with electric fields of frequency 400 Hz no growth was detected.

The paper describes a high intensity pulsed electric field (PEP) preservation technology which is an innovative and a promising technology based on the ability of electric fields to disrupt the cell membranes and cause lysis of the cell. This technology utilizes application of high voltage pulses to food products that are placed between the electrodes thereby processing the food and making it contamination free. The inactivation of microbes is mainly due to electrochemical instability and changes in cell membrane. When the food item laden with microbes is placed between the electrodes and an electric field is applied, the cell membrane pores enlarge killing the cells and releasing its content into the environment. Lower voltage kills plant cells while high voltage destroys bacterial cells.

Bacterial burden has been associated with chronic diseases. PEP technology is a potential alternative to other traditional sterilization techniques such as pasteurization (Khan 2015) because of the advantages it provides such as it minimizes nutritional and sensory damage thereby keeping the products fresh, avoids or greatly reduces damage to physical properties of food items and not only inhibits pathogenic microbes but also retains the flavor, nutrients, aroma and colour of food making this technology a significant option for inhibiting growth of microorganisms.

References

Khan, M.Z.A., 2015. Protection of foods from microbes: A review on food preservation. Int J Pharma Biomed Res, 2, pp.13-18.

Shamtsyan, M., 2012. The influence of electric field on microbial growth. J. Eur. Hyg. Eng. Des. Group, 1, pp.88-92.

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