The objective of this study was to use high-energy electron beam (HEEB) treatments to find surrogate microorganisms for enteric viruses and to use the selected surrogates as proof of concept to investigate low-energy electron beam (LEEB) treatments for enteric virus inactivation at industrial scale on frozen blueberries. Six food matrices inoculated with HAV (hepatitis A virus), MNV S99 (murine norovirus), bacteriophages MS2 and Qβ, and Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores were treated with HEEB at 10 MeV using 4, 8 and 16 kGy doses. G. stearothermophilus spores showed the highest inactivation on all matrices except on raisins, with a dose-dependent effect. HAV reached the maximum measurable log₁₀ reduction (> 3.2 log₁₀) when treated at 16 kGy on raisins. MNV showed the highest resistance of all tested microorganisms, independent of the dose, except on frozen blueberries. On frozen blueberries, freeze-dried raspberries, sesame seeds and black peppercorns, HAV showed a mean inactivation level in between those of MS2 and G. stearothermophilus. Based on this, we selected both surrogate organisms as first approximation to estimate HAV inactivation on frozen blueberries during LEEB treatment at 250 keV using 16 kGy. Reductions of 3.1 and 1.3 log₁₀ were measured for G. stearothermophilus spores and MS2, respectively, suggesting that a minimum reduction of 1.4 log₁₀ can be expected for HAV under the same conditions.

本研究的目的是使用高能电子束 (HEEB) 治疗来寻找肠道病毒的替代微生物，并使用选定的替代物作为概念证明来研究低能电子束 (LEEB) 治疗肠道病毒在冷冻蓝莓的工业规模。六种接种了 HAV（甲型肝炎病毒）、MNV S99（鼠诺如病毒）、噬菌体 MS2 和 Qβ 以及嗜热脂肪地芽孢杆菌孢子的食物基质，以 4、8 和 16 kGy 的剂量用 HEEB 以 10 MeV 处理。G. stearothermophilus孢子在除葡萄干以外的所有基质上表现出最高的灭活效果，具有剂量依赖性效应。HAV 达到了最大可测量的 log ₁₀减少量（> 3.2 log ₁₀) 对葡萄干进行 16 kGy 处理。MNV 在所有测试的微生物中表现出最高的抵抗力，与剂量无关，除了冷冻蓝莓。在冷冻蓝莓、冷冻干燥覆盆子、芝麻和黑胡椒上，HAV 的平均灭活水平介于 MS2 和G. stearothermophilus 之间。基于此，我们选择了两种替代生物作为第一近似值，以估计在使用 16 kGy 的 250 keV LEEB 处理期间冷冻蓝莓上的 HAV 灭活。3.1和1.3的日志减少₁₀测量了G.嗜热脂肪芽孢和MS2，分别，表明1.4日志的最小压下₁₀可以在相同条件下所预期的HAV。