Hiperbaric announces winners of HPP Research Awards

Hiperbaric, a leader in industrial high-pressure technology has announced the winners of the 3rd HPP Research Awards. This annual initiative is the company's commitment to scientific innovation and the promotion of young talent in the field of high-pressure processing for the food industry.

This third edition attracted 25 submissions from 11 countries. The first prize has been awarded to Liz Astorga Oquendo, a PhD candidate in Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University (USA).

(Source: Hiperbaric)

Liz Astorga Oquendo’s work, titled "Inactivation of Clostridium sporogenes PA 3679 spores by synergistic pressure-assisted thermal processing and antimicrobial compound combinations," addresses one of the major challenges in the low-acid food industry: the efficient elimination of highly resistant bacterial spores without degrading product quality.

Specifically, the research focuses on Clostridium sporogenes, the safe biological surrogate used in laboratories to simulate the behavior of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that produces one of the world's most lethal toxins and causes botulism. After evaluating the potential of 25 different antimicrobial compounds (including enzymes, polysaccharides, and plant extracts), the study demonstrated that integrating Pressure-Assisted Thermal Processing (PATP) at 6,000 bar (600 MPa) with chitosan, a naturally derived, food-grade compound, achieves spore reductions greater than 7-log under significantly milder processing conditions than conventional retort thermal technologies.

Read the entire article: The Ohio State University’s Liz Astorga Wins Hiperbaric’s 3rd HPP Research Awards for Spore Inactivation Study