Food contact surfaces coated with nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide: effect on Listeria monocytogenes survival under different light sources

Abstract

Improvement of food safety is a very important issue, and is on the basis of production and application of new/modified food contact surfaces. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and, more recently, nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) coatings are among the possible forms to enhance food contact surfaces performance in terms of higher hygiene and easier sanitation. In this context, the present work aimed at evaluating the bactericidal activity of an N-TiO2 coating on glass and stainless steel under two different sources of visible light – fluorescent and incandescent – and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Listeria monocytogenes was chosen as representative of major foodborne pathogens and its survival was tested on N-TiO2 coated coupons. In terms of survival percentage, good results were obtained after exposure of coated surfaces to all light types since, apart from the value obtained after exposing glass to fluorescent light (56.3%), survival rates were always below 50%. However, no effective disinfection was obtained, given that for a disinfectant or sanitizing agent to be claimed as effective it needs to be able to promote at least a 3-log reduction of the microbial load, which was not observed for any of the experimental conditions assessed. Even so, UV irradiation was the most successful on eliminating cells on coated surfaces, since the amount of bacteria was reduced to 1.49 × 106 CFU/ml on glass and 2.37 × 107 on stainless steel. In contrast, both visible light sources had only slightly decreased the amount of viable cells, which remained in the range of 8 log CFU/ml. Hence, although some bactericidal effect was accomplished under visible light, UV was the most effective light source on promoting photocatalytic reactions on N-TiO2 coated coupons and none of the experimental conditions have reached a satisfactory disinfection level. Thus, this surface coating needs further research and improvement in order to become truly effective against foodborne pathogens and, ultimately, become a useful tool towards food safety in general.