Use of pasteurization unit for estimation of microbial quality of Iranian non-alcoholic beer using different thermal treatments and various types of packaging.

Foods can be stored under good hygienic conditions with the aid of temperature without any chemical conservation. Pasteurization is a time – dependent process and may be an effective method for elimination of microorganisms. The efficiency of pasteurization unit (PU) could be demonstrated by microbiological analyses. The aim of this paper was to find and apply a PU which satisfied, in terms of time and temperature, the necessities of a good and healthy non – alcoholic beer packaged in keg, can, and bottle. The results showed that optimum conditions for pasteurization of non – alcoholic beer in three types of packaging were as follow: For keg packaging: 85°C for 2s (PU= 124); for bottle packaging: 68°C for 55 min (Min. PU = 200); and for can packaging: 68°C for 35 min (Min. PU= 100).