USE OF GASEOUS OZONE FOR SANITATION COLD ROOM STORAGE

Abstract

This work evaluated the ozone application for sanitation of a cold room used to
store Minas Frescal cheese during 120 days. The microbiological quality of the air, the room walls and the room door were evaluated during 60 days with and with no addition
of ozone at 0,03 mg.L-1. The air sedimentation technique was applied for the evaluation
of the air quality (aerobic mesophilic microorganisms and yeasts and moulds) and
the swab technique was used for the evaluation of internal surface counts of aerobic
mesophilic microorganisms. Reductions of 0.81 and 1.01 log cycles in the room air were
caused by air ozonation. Additionally, significant decimal reductions around 0.50 log
were observed in the walls and door swabs of the cold room. Therefore, ozone gas has
improved microbiological quality of the surfaces and the air of cold room. This suggests
ozone as an alternative method for disinfection of rooms.