SANITISATION IN FERMENTATION INDUSTRIES

There are two kinds of microbes in the fermentation industries; the good microbes which drive the fermentation industries and produce valuable fermentation products and the bad microbes which create problems in the fermentation industries. The problem is how are we going to prevent, remove or kill these bad microbes? Their removal would mean the desired fermentation process would be better in terms of fermentation products produced
There are commonly two objectives in removal of the unwanted bad microbes:
1 Kill the bad microbes
2 Remove the bad microbes by physical means
3 Prevent their growth or reproduction
In most fermentation industries steps 1 and 2 are the most common procedures. In this context of killing or removing the bad microbes it would either mean killing the living bad microbes (1) or killing and removing OR keeping their numbers low to an acceptable level (2)
All these above actions should be taken without affecting the good microbes! Remember that these actions do not differentiate between the good or bad microbes. So proper techniques in fermentation technology must be applied to ensure only the bad microbes are affected
In killing or removing the bad microbes we have to understand and differentiate the various terms which are commonly used interchangeably to describe the action. The most common terms are:
1 Sterilisation
2 Sanitisation
3 Disinfection
No matter there are differences in the 3 procedures, the common factor is that the bad microbes are killed or removed. But to the level of efficacy of microbial removal or killing depends on the procedures used and the various operating parameters
Theoretically in sterilization, it should be complete 100% removal of all living forms. It also means 100% killing of the microbes
In sanitization, it is often the removal or killing of microbes to the desired level. It is not a process of 100% removal.
In disinfection, it is more a sanitization but involving a surface or area. Most disinfection are carried out using chemical disinfectants and surfaces
So we can see the lines separating the three activities are actually vague.
Which method we use really depends on the purpose and objectives we have in mind.



Type rest of the post here.