Microbial Contamination Levels of Red Pepper Powder Purchased in Gyeonggi Province and Changes in Characteristics According to the Storage Method

The purpose of this study was to investigate the microbial contamination of red pepper powder distributed within Gyeonggi province in 2020 according to the place of purchase, the country of origin, and whether the HACCP certification and sterilization were conducted, and to evaluate the change of quality according to the storage method. Upon collecting and analyzing 100 samples, Bacillus cereus was detected in 3 cases (2 cases in large supermarkets and 1 case in traditional markets) and Clostridium perfringens in 27 cases (9 cases in large supermarkets and 18 cases in traditional markets). The levels of the total aerobic bacteria were not significantly different between the red pepper powder purchased from large supermarkets and traditional markets. However, the frequency of red pepper powder exceeding 7 log CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria was higher in traditional markets than in large supermarkets. Microbial quality was not significantly different regardless of the storage temperature (30oC, 4oC, -20oC) and the packaging method (zipper bag and clean bag) after 7 months of purchase. However, the moisture contents and ASTA color value of red pepper powder stored at 30oC decreased remarkably after 3 months of storage. It is desirable to store red pepper powder in a refrigerator or freezer in order to maintain its quality during long-term storage.