Sub Micron Grinding of a Preservative for Food Surfaces

This paper will describe how the activity of a poorly water soluble preservative product used in food coatings can be optimized with respect to microbial protection of the food. The paper focuses on food coatings. Preservation of food coatings is needed to prevent the growth of micro organisms.

The starting material is a particulate product with a d_(4,3) of around 15 um. This product is ground down in a stirred media mill to a d_(4,3) of about 180 nm. This process will be described, as well as the analysis done on the particle size measurements. Particle size analysis proved to be quite difficult. Next to this the product is tested in application on prevention of microbial growth. The sub micron preservative showed to be reaching its maximum concentration much faster than the non grounded material. The material was tested on a cheese surface. The results show a better protection against microbial growth of these smaller particles.