Processing slime from snail (Helix aspersa maxima): a preliminary study on the effect on microbial load

• Autor(a) principal: Teixeira, Raquel
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Barbosa, Joana, Albano, Helena, Maciel, Cláudia, Silva, Joana, Saraiva, Jorge A., Castro, Sónia M., Teixeira, Paula
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/26478
• topic: High pressure; Microorganisms; Snail (Helix aspersa maxima); Temperature; UV radiation

Slime from earth snails (Helix aspersa maxima) is a sub-product often used in the cosmetic industry. Due to its origin, a decontamination process ought to be considered. After exposure to UV radiation, no significant (P > 0.05) reduction of the initial microbial load of slime was observed, while treated at 60 °C, a decrease of 4.0 log CFU∙mL-1 was obtained (when compared to non-treated slime). A similar reduction was attained for pressurized (500 MPa) slime. The sequential combination of temperature and pressure treatment had a similar effect (P > 0.05) on the microbial load when compared to 400 MPa (30 min), but the reduction was higher when compared to the less intense treatments (60 °C, 15 min; 400 MPa, 15 min). Overall, the results suggest that pressure ( 400 MPa) is a promising technology for processing snail slime, which can have positive effects on its microbial load, for further use in the cosmetic industry