Antibiotics are chemical substances that can interfere with the development and function of other living cells, in simple terms, they can kill bacteria. Although using antibiotics during the growth process of poultry can prevent them from getting sick, the antibiotics used cannot be completely metabolized, and some antibiotics may remain in the poultry's body. After we eat poultry as food, the residual antibiotics in this part will deposit in the human body, leading to the development of drug resistance.Microwave sterilization of food refers to microbial bacteria.

The mechanism of microwave sterilization and preservation

Microwave sterilization and preservation aim to remove or kill microorganisms such as bacteria and worms in food after microwave energy treatment, ensuring that the bacterial content in food does not exceed the allowable range stipulated by the Food Hygiene Law during a certain storage period, thereby extending its shelf life. The following briefly describes the possible mechanism of microwave sterilization and preservation: As is well known, bacteria, adults, and any biological cell are a cohesive medium composed of complex compounds such as water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and inorganic substances. Water is the main component of biological cells, with a content of 75-85%, because various physiological activities of bacteria require the participation of water. The growth and reproduction process of bacteria, as well as the absorption of various nutrients, is completed through the diffusion and permeation absorption of cell membrane material. Under the action of a certain intensity of microwave field, insects and bacteria in food will also undergo molecular polarization relaxation and absorb microwave energy to heat up. Due to their being condensed matter media, the strong intermolecular forces intensify the conversion of microwave energy into thermal energy. Thus, the proteins in the body are subjected to both non-polar thermal motion and polar rotation, causing changes or damage to their spatial structure and resulting in protein denaturation. After protein denaturation, its solubility, viscosity, swelling, permeability, and stability will undergo significant changes, and it will lose its biological activity. On the other hand, the non thermal effect of microwave energy plays a special role in sterilization that conventional physical sterilization does not have, and is also one of the reasons for bacterial death. Microwave sterilization and preservation are the result of the combined effects of microwave thermal and non thermal effects. The thermal effect of microwaves mainly plays a role in rapid heating and sterilization; Non thermal effects, on the other hand, involve the mutation of proteins and physiologically active substances within microorganisms, resulting in loss of vitality or death. Therefore, microwave sterilization temperature is lower than conventional methods. In general, conventional methods require sterilization temperature of 120 ℃ -130 ℃ for about 1 hour, while microwave sterilization temperature is only 70 ℃ -95 ℃ for about 90-180 seconds.

Characteristics of Microwave Equipment for Sterilization and Preservation

1. Short time and fast speed

Conventional thermal sterilization involves transferring heat from the surface of food to its interior through methods such as heat conduction, convection, or radiation. It often takes a long time to reach the sterilization temperature. Microwave sterilization is the direct interaction between microwave energy and microorganisms such as food and bacteria, with both thermal and non thermal effects working together to achieve rapid heating and sterilization, greatly reducing processing time. The sterilization effect of various materials is generally within 3-5 minutes.

2. Low temperature sterilization maintains nutritional content and traditional flavor

Microwave sterilization is achieved through special thermal and non thermal effects. Compared with conventional thermal sterilization, it can achieve the desired disinfection and sterilization effect at lower temperatures and in a shorter time. Practice has shown that the general sterilization temperature can achieve the effect at 75-80 ℃. In addition, microwave treatment of food can retain more nutrients and flavors such as color, aroma, taste, and shape, and has a puffing effect. The vitamin C retained by vegetables treated with conventional heat is 46-50%, while microwave treatment is 60-90%. Vitamin A in pig liver treated with conventional heat is maintained at 58%, while microwave heating is 84%.

3. Save energy

Conventional thermal sterilization often results in heat loss in the environment and equipment, while microwaves directly treat food without additional heat loss. In addition, its conversion efficiency from electrical energy to microwave energy is between 70-80%, while it can generally save 30-50% of electricity.

4. Uniform and thorough

Conventional thermal sterilization starts from the surface of the material and is then transmitted internally through heat conduction. There is a temperature difference between the inside and outside. In order to maintain the flavor of the food and shorten the processing time, the internal temperature of the food is often not sufficient, which affects the sterilization effect. Due to the penetrating effect of microwaves, when processing food as a whole, both the surface and interior are affected simultaneously, resulting in uniform and thorough disinfection and sterilization.

5. Easy to control

Microwave food sterilization treatment, equipment can be turned on and used immediately, without the thermal inertia of conventional thermal sterilization, flexible and convenient operation, microwave power can be continuously adjusted from zero to rated power, and transmission speed can be continuously adjusted from zero, making it easy to control.

6. Simple equipment and advanced technology

Compared with conventional disinfection and sterilization, microwave sterilization equipment does not require boilers, complex pipeline systems, coal yards, and transportation vehicles, as long as it has basic water and electricity conditions.

7. Improve working conditions and save land area

The working environment of microwave equipment has low temperature and low noise, greatly improving the working conditions of workers. The operator of the entire microwave equipment only needs 2-3 people. Widely used in powder of fungus, ginseng, fresh flowers, scallions, ginger, and garlic slices. Jujube slices, chili peppersDecoction pieces, ginseng powder,The maturation, drying, and sterilization of dehydrated vegetables, soy products, and other products, through microwave sterilization and preservation technology, not only will the original nutritional content of the materials not be destroyed, but the hygiene indicators can be completely lower than the national food hygiene standards, and can fully meet the export level standards of food, while greatly extending the shelf life of food.