Isothermal calorimetry is the measurement of heat production rate (thermal power) as a function of time on samples that typically have a size of 1-100 mL. The measurement takes place at constant temperature and continuously monitors the heat produced by processes in the sample. In the food safety field the main interest is the heat produced by microbial activity. In the case of aerobic processes (respiration), the heats are high and constant per mole oxygen consumed; for anaerobic processes, the heats are lower and variable, depending on the end-products of the fermentation processes. Isothermal calorimetry can detect (exponential) growth of microorganisms, but not the existence of inactive microorganisms, toxins etc. per se.<br/><br/>Three uses of isothermal calorimetry stand out in the field of food processing and food safety: 1. The use of multi-channel calorimeters to assess the result of different process conditions, microorganisms, substrates etc. on shelf life in the science and technology of food processing development. The usefulness in this case comes from the fact that the calorimeter makes a sensitive and continuous measurement of the microbial kinetics. 2. Isothermal calorimetry as a complement to plate counts, as in calorimetry only one measurement is needed to monitor the development of the microbial community, instead of many labor intensive dilutions and counting of plates. 3. It has the potential to measure heat produced inside packaged food without opening the packages. This can be useful when testing aseptic packaging techniques. All three aforementioned uses of isothermal calorimetry have been tested, but are not yet used on a large scale in the food field

Applications of isothermal calorimetry for food safety

254th National Meeting (2017)

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