Abstract:
High pressure homogenization technology has been used to reduce the amounts of microorganisms in tobacco casings, slowing down fermentation and prolonging the storage time of the casings. Homogenization experiments were conducted between 1-10 times at the pressure of 90-180 MPa. The microorganism lethal curve for the casing was fitted by the Weibull model, and the sterilization effect on the casing was modelled. The results showed that:1) Raising homogenization pressure and casing temperature and increasing homogenization times effectively improved the killing effect on microorganisms and reduced the number of colonies in the casing. 2) Compared with normal production conditions, the storage time of the casing was extended to 8 to 10 days after homogenization at 180 MPa, casing temperature of 40℃ for 5 times. 3) The Weibull model well fitted the bactericidal kinetic equation of acetobacter aceti in the casing (
R2>0.90) and predicted the sterilization effect of homogenization at different pressures and casing temperatures for different durations. As a low-temperature physical sterilization technology, high pressure homogenization could effectively reduce the amounts of microorganisms in tobacco casing, slow down the fermentation and prolong the storage time of the casing under otherwise identical conditions.