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Radiofrequency (RF) heating was evaluated as a novel spice decontamination technology of cumin seeds.

A plastic pouch with 20 g inoculated cumin seeds was placed at the top center of a tray (16.5 cm length × 13 cm width at the top tapering down to 14 × 10 cm at the bottom with 4 cm height) containing 430 g of uninoculated cumin seeds in the same tray. The top center of the tray containing cumin seeds was found to be the cold spot by monitoring temperature profiles at six different locations using fiber optic sensors in a 6 kW 27.12 MHz RF system. Either Salmonella enterica cocktail or Enterococcus faecium was inoculated into cumin seeds for microbial challenge studies in RF heating. The whole tray was subjected to various processing times until 5-log reduction of Salmonella was achieved. After the same RF heating times, E. faecium consistently showed higher survivals than those of …