Development and validation of oil based antimicrobial delivery systems for dry cleaning and sanitation of food processing equipment

The overall goal of this study is to develop and validate oil-based antimicrobial delivery systems for dry cleaning and sanitation of food processing equipment. This proposal hypothesizes that oil-based delivery system will be an effective means to deliver antimicrobial organic acids and essential oils to non-growing bacteria for clean-in-place applications. The objectives are as follows:· Objective 1. Develop and test oil-based antimicrobials to destroy bacteria non-water based (dry) cleaning and sanitation of food processing equipment. A rapid screening method will be developed to screen desiccated cells against the formulated oil-based antimicrobial solutions. Oil-based antimicrobial solutions will be formulated with organic acids delivery or water-in-oil emulsions containing traditional sanitizing agents.· Objective 2. Validate the effectiveness of oil-based antimicrobials in a bench-top clean-in-place system. A bench-top clean-in-place system will be developed to evaluate the efficacy of the developed oil-based antimicrobials against Salmonella in the presence of peanut butter.· Objective 3. Investigate the mechanisms of oil-based antimicrobials. Microscopy will be used with a combination of fluorescent stains to assess the influence of oil-based antimicrobials on membrane disruption, cellular respiration, protein translation, and membrane viscosity.