감압방전플라즈마에 의한 고춧가루 미생물 저감

Low pressure discharge plasma (LPDP) was applied to reduce the microbial counts of red pepper powder, and its effects on the quality were determined. Red pepper powder samples purchased in local markets showed substantial levels of microbial contamination; 7.33×10⁴-1.07×10⁷ CFU/g for bacteria and 3.47×10⁴-3.16×10⁶ CFU/g for mold counts. The LPDP inactivation of microorganism in red pepper powder followed a biphasic first order reaction kinetics. The LPDP inactivation rate constants increased with the input power and the fineness of particles, and showed greater values against mold than bacteria. Excessive LPDP treatment induced substantial changes in color and reduction in capsaicinoid contents. However the sensory color and taste were not changed significantly with the LPDP treatments for up to 5 min. The sensory flavor and overall acceptability remained unchanged with 10 min treatment. The optimum LPDP treatment time for red pepper powder was 5 min, which resulted in 1.5 log reduction in bacterial counts with no significant changes in sensory quality.