Modeling the effect of temperature and relative humidity on the ethylene oxide fumigation of Salmonella and Enterococcus faecium inwhole black peppercorn

Abstract This research investigated the effect of temperature and relative humidity (RH)conditions during ethylene oxide (EtO) fumigation for inactivation of Salmonella and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354on wholeblack peppercorns. Black peppercorn samples were inoculated with a five-strain Salmonella cocktail or E. faecium inoculum. EtO (735.3 mg/L) fumigation was conducted at different treatment temperatures (46, 53, and 60°C) and different RH levels (30,40, and 50%) for the inactivation of inoculated black peppercorn samples with different exposure times (2 to 180 min). The temperature, RH, and exposure time exhibit significant linear effects on microbial inactivation. Bacterial inactivation during EtO fumigation was described by the Weibull model with the R2\u003e 0.70 and RMSE