03-04-2009, 03:41 AM
How about running it under a UV lamp?
Effectiveness of UV as a surface sterilizer for produce would probably depend on several variables:
*wavelength of UV used (there are at least three commonly available and two of those three wavelengths are not very potent, while one is quite dangerous even to people if a person's eyes and skin are not shielded),
*wattage (low radiated wattage may not do much even with the most potent wavelength),
*expense (most high-wattage UV lamps are expensive and the electricity required to run them and their cooling fans is substantial),
*penetration (I am unsure how well UV would do at killing pathogens down inside leafy veggies, in the folds of bell peppers, and other such spaces), and finally
*labor and time involved (it would take someone in gloves and goggles exposing individual leaf surfaces to the UV source for a good thorough treatment).
Probably too expensive, laborious, and hit-or-miss with most applications, is my guess on UV for treating leafy veggies. UV sterilizers work great for killing microbes in water but that is a whole different application.
If this ionized gases approach works well, though, then a producer could fill a plastic barrel with leafy veggies, seal the barrel tightly with an airtight cover, switch on the device for awhile to raise the O3 level to some indicated point, let the barrel sit for a few hours, and voilà! Surface-cleansed veggies. Ozone is not something humans, pets, or farm animals want to be breathing but this potent gas should diffuse thoroughly throughout all of the airspaces --no matter how tiny-- in the barrel before breaking back down again.
I wonder how tiny slugs and the rat lungworm L3 larvae inside them (and occasionally shed in their slime trails) would hold up when exposed to ozone?
Edit in orange
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
A pleasant slideshow: http://www.thejoymovie.com
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Effectiveness of UV as a surface sterilizer for produce would probably depend on several variables:
*wavelength of UV used (there are at least three commonly available and two of those three wavelengths are not very potent, while one is quite dangerous even to people if a person's eyes and skin are not shielded),
*wattage (low radiated wattage may not do much even with the most potent wavelength),
*expense (most high-wattage UV lamps are expensive and the electricity required to run them and their cooling fans is substantial),
*penetration (I am unsure how well UV would do at killing pathogens down inside leafy veggies, in the folds of bell peppers, and other such spaces), and finally
*labor and time involved (it would take someone in gloves and goggles exposing individual leaf surfaces to the UV source for a good thorough treatment).
Probably too expensive, laborious, and hit-or-miss with most applications, is my guess on UV for treating leafy veggies. UV sterilizers work great for killing microbes in water but that is a whole different application.
If this ionized gases approach works well, though, then a producer could fill a plastic barrel with leafy veggies, seal the barrel tightly with an airtight cover, switch on the device for awhile to raise the O3 level to some indicated point, let the barrel sit for a few hours, and voilà! Surface-cleansed veggies. Ozone is not something humans, pets, or farm animals want to be breathing but this potent gas should diffuse thoroughly throughout all of the airspaces --no matter how tiny-- in the barrel before breaking back down again.
I wonder how tiny slugs and the rat lungworm L3 larvae inside them (and occasionally shed in their slime trails) would hold up when exposed to ozone?
Edit in orange
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
A pleasant slideshow: http://www.thejoymovie.com
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(