Effect of UV sterilization on quality of centrifuged takju during storage

A cylindrical UV sterilization system was developed to decrease microorganisms in centrifuged Takju (CT). CT was run through 110 strips of honey comb type-teflon tubes and 9 UV lamps (1395 W) were equipped between teflon tubes. The optimum sterilization condition of CT was fixed for 1.5 min at 2 L/min in overall quality aspects; also, 5~6 log cycle decrease of viable cell numbers of total bacteria and yeast was observed at this operating condition. Quality changes of UV-sterilized CT were examined by UV irradiation of CT followed by storing at 30°C for 8 days. To evaluate quality changes of UV-sterilized CT, pH, amino nitrogen content, acidity, reducing sugar content and viable cell numbers of total bacteria and yeast were measured. The growth of yeast and bacteria was retarded, showing around 10⁸ CFU/mL even after 4 days and 10⁸ CFU/mL after 6 days, respectively. Also, UV sterilized CT showed no changes in pH, titratable acidity, and amino nitrogen content during storage except reducing sugar content. UV sterilization did not cause significant difference in L, a, and b values between CT and UV-sterilized CT over the storage period.