Control of Salmonellain wheat grains with sodium bisulfate tempering and its impact on flour quality

In the last decade, the incidence of foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls connected with wheat flour and flour‐based goods infected with enteric bacteria such as Salmonellahas increased. In this study, the activity of sodium bisulfate (SBS) as an antibacterial agent against four different serovars of Salmonella entericais investigated. The dose‐dependent, anti‐Salmonellaconcentration of SBS revealed a minimum inhibitory activity of 0.32%. At this concentration, SBS induced the production of reactive oxygen species, demonstrating that lysis of bacterial cells has occurred. SBS tempering (1.5% SBS, w/v) reduced wheat Salmonellaload by 4.3 log CFU/g after 24 h of tempering. Additionally, tempering at 0% (control) and 1.5% SBS (17% moisture, 24 h) showed similar (p> .05) flour functionality (rheology and composition) and baking characteristics (volume, texture, and crumb structure). These results suggest that SBS is a viable antibacterial tempering agent to reduce Salmonellacontamination in wheat before milling. Acidic water tempering, as opposed to the traditional water tempering method, may result in milled products with improved microbiological quality.