Increasing the shelf life of packaged bakery products by their processing of broadband optical radiation of a pulsed xenon lamp

Pulsed xenon lamps generating a wide spectrum of radiation of the megawatt range are sources of a new generation of biocidal radiation, which shows potential in the food industry. The article presents the results of studies of the efficiency of pulsed xenon lamp radiation in relation to antifungal treatment of bakery products in sealed plastic packaging in order to increase their shelf life. The object of research was commercial samples of bakery products packed in polypropylene film. The samples were processed by radiation from a pulsed xenon lamp with power of 300 watts. It is shown that irradiation of bakery products samples in the mode with an integral fluence of broadband optical radiation of 10 J/cm2 and a dose of short-wave UV radiation of 0.6 J/cm2 makes it possible to increase their shelf life several times (on average 2 times for most types of samples) compared with untreated samples. General conclusion: optical radiation of a pulsed xenon lamp has a pronounced antifungal effect and is able to inhibit the development of mold fungi on bakery products, even when they are processed in packaged form. The obtained results can be used in the development of equipment of antifungal treatment of bakery products.