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What is Citrofresh? |
| Citrofresh is a new,
unique and natural biocide made from orange
extracts. It has a broad spectrum microbial
activity that has been developed for the food
industry, specifically for use in treatment of
fresh produce and food products. |
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How does it work? |
| Citrofresh is a
phytopharmaceutical of organic origin that acts
mechanistically by destroying the cellular
membrane of a micro-organism. This is due to a
synergistic reaction created by the "reaction"
of bioflavonoid's and ascorbic acid with other
natural organic acids present in Citrofresh. |
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UNIQUE BIOCIDAL
FEATURES |
| The Citrofresh range has
broad spectrum activity and is effective against
bacteria, (both gram positive and gram negative)
and viruses. |
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| Citrofresh formulations do
not invoke pathogen mutations. The unique
combination of it’s active ingredients ensures
that the biocidal activity (via cell wall
intrusion) is not influenced by mutation in the
pathogens. This is not the case with most
synthetically produced biocides, which have to
be periodically substituted to avoid "Pathogen
Tolerance“ and/or “Pathogen Mutation.” |
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UNIQUE
PERFORMANCE |
| As demonstrated by
independent tests performed by Microsearch
Laboratories Ltd to the European standards
entitled 'Test Methods for Determining the
Antimicrobial Effects of Disinfectants in Food
Hygiene', Citrofresh was unique amongst the
available 'natural' process washes in passing
all the test standards. |
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| Typically, in a TVC (total
viable count) of e7, a 5-log reduction is
required to be achieved. |
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| Note: The Citrofresh range
is effective up to 107 microbial loading at the
recommended dilution level. Above this figure,
new dilution levels must be calculated based on
the logarithmic microbial loading relationship. |
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STRONG RESIDUAL
EFFECT |
| The range possesses the
UNIQUE ability to go on working for periods of
up to 48 hours (residual effect). This feature
has positive implications for the extension of
shelf life in fresh produce and food. (Summaries
available). |
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SAFETY |
| Citrofresh is unique in
having such high performance efficacy, with no
negative harmful side effects. It is
non-carcinogenic, non-allergenic and non –
toxic. It does not promote mutations in
pathogens. Even in its concentrated form, it is
not harmful to the skin, and the used wash
solutions may be disposed of by pouring down the
drain without harm to the environment. |
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The Benefits of Citrofresh |
- It is a unique natural biocide.
- It has a very broad spectrum
anti-microbial activity.
- It breaks down biofilm.
- It is effective in the presence of
organic matter.
- It has a strong residual effect.
- It is non-tainting and does not change
the flavour of food or produce.
- It has no harmful side effects.
- It is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic,
non-mutagenic and non-corrosive.
- It passes the European Suspension Test.
- Citrofresh complies with the EU
Regulation 2092/91, and is approved for
washes by MAFF and exceeds the requirement
of the European Suspension Test No. BSEN1276
and chemical disinfectants and antiseptics
basic bactericidal activity BSEN1040.
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Citrofresh
Composition |
| SELECTION OF
INGREDIENTS |
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The Citrofresh
Component |
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Citrofresh is
extracted from specific varieties of
oranges. The pith and pulp from the
fruit are isolated, and then dried to a
powder, followed by water extraction of
the natural biocidal components. |
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Other Ingredients |
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The basic
Citrofresh extract may be blended with
other substances which the FDA specify
as "Generally Regarded As Safe"
("GRAS"). This permits the production of
materials which can be tailored for use
in specific commercial applications,
such as cleaners and sanitisers for the
Food and Agricultural Industries,
including the Meat, Poultry, Seafood and
Horticultural Industries. |
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DESCRIPTION OF EXTRACTION OF THE ACTIVE
COMPONENT |
| The pulp and pith from
citrus fruits, which in this case are
by-products from orange juice production, are
dried and ground into a fine powder. This powder
is a mixture of water soluble bioflavonoids,
with nitrogen complex bioflavonoids, low chain
pectins, natural sugars, monoglycerides,
ascorbic acid (vitamin C), plus a range of water
soluble minerals and insoluble fibres. |
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| This powder is then
dissolved in water, and cold-water extraction is
used to obtain the desired biocidal material
components. The extracted material is then
pressure filtered and the filtrate retained as
the anti-oxidant biocidal component. |
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Production of
Citrofresh RTU |
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The main food
processing derivative is Citrofresh
RTU,and this is produced from the basic
bioflavonoid material by the addition of
ascorbic acid and other natural
ingredients. |
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Citrofresh
-Biocide It’s Origin |
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Orange Pith & Pulp |
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Purified Water |
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Blend Filter |
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Bioflavonoid Complex Citrofresh Natural
Biocide |
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Application & Techniques |
| METHODS OF USE |
| Citrofresh RTU is easy to
apply and has been used successfully by dipping,
spraying and fogging methods. Where large
quantities of produce have to be treated, the
use of dry fogging has been found to give
maximum utilisation efficiency. |
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| NOTE 1: We have a portable
dry fogging test set available, and can arrange
for site trials on request. |
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| NOTE 2: During recent test
trials, dry fogging has shown material
utilisation efficiencies 3 to 5 times higher
than other conventional techniques. |
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| Citrofresh RTU has been
introduced successfully as a highly effective,
completely non-toxic wash. It has been used on a
wide range of fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry,
seafood and plant products. This information
sheet concentrates on fruit and vegetable
products only, however RTU can also be used very
beneficially on fish and meat products and in
fish and meat handling plants. RTU has been
successfully used on the following types of
products: |
- Leaf Salads - Lettuce etc.
- Leafy/flowery Vegetables – Broccoli,
Cauliflower etc.
- Vegetable Fruits
- Immature - Cucumbers, Peppers etc.
- Mature - Melons, Tomatoes etc.
- Underground Vegetables - Root Vegetables
- Carrots,
- Tubers, Potatoes, Bulbs - Onions etc.
- Stone Fruits - Apricots, Plums,
Nectarines etc.
- Vine Fruits - Grapes etc.
- Berries - Strawberries, Blueberries etc.
- Citrus Fruits – Lemons, Oranges,
Grapefruits etc.
- Tropical/exotic Fruits - Pineapples,
Papayas etc.
- Apples & Pears etc.
- Lemon Trees.
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Biofilms |
| The danger of bacterial
attachment to surfaces, in a "biofilm", has long
been known to cooling tower operators. Only
recently however, has there been an awareness of
the possibility of bacterial attachment via
biofilms directly to foods and to food
preparation surfaces. Recent work reported by
the Institute of Food Technology has identified
the risks. |
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| This report shows that
initial attachment generally takes between 20
minutes and 2 hours after initial bacterial
contact. Listeria was shown to become attached
to stainless steel after only 20 minutes. |
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DEALING
WITH BIOFILM ATTACHMENT |
| Attached micro-organisms
have been shown to be from 150 to 3000 times,
more resistant to hypochloric acid, (free
chlorine pH7), than unattached cells. |
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| Attached Listeria
monocytogenes colonies were found to be
resistant to treatment with benzalkonium
chloride over application times of 20 minutes,
whereas unattached cells were destroyed in a 30
second exposure to this material. |
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| In general the older a
biofilm, the more resistant it is to cleaners
and sanitisers. |
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| The studies reported that,
when the interval between cleanings exceeds 8
hours, then the build up of attached bacteria
can be such that they may resist cleaning and
sanitisation. The possibility of this should be
kept in mind when planning the timing of
cleaning programmes, particularly over weekends. |
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| Frequent, correct cleaning
followed by sanitising with an effective
disinfectant is essential to keep food
preparation surfaces safe from attached
bacterial contamination. Independent tests of
Citrofresh based sanitisers show that they are
among the most effective for bacterial control
in such situations. Commonly used substances
such as chlorine, iodophors and neutral
quaternary compounds are among the least
effective. |
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FORMATION
AND REMOVAL OF BIOFILMS |
| Recent work on problems
associated with farm and food plant hygiene has
resulted in a more critical approach to farm
hygiene practice. Biofilms are now seen as a
major source of food contamination. These
biofilms have been found to be highly resistant
to removal by traditional techniques. |
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| The diagram which follows
shows the action of a biofilm. The biofilm acts
as a barrier to biocides like chlorine which
react only with the surface layers. This type of
action allows the lower, protected bacteria
population to grow unchecked until they reach
proportions where they break out of the biofilm
layer to cause disease and infection. These
effects are shown in the diagram below. |
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| Chlorination of such areas
only removes unbound bacteria (which are
150-3000 times more easily removed than bound
bacteria). After a few hours, the bacteria held
in the biofilm reproduce and the bacterial
numbers soon return to their original levels. |
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| Only Citrofresh is
powerful enough to remove the biofilm, kill the
contained bacteria, and provide residual effect
to prevent further infection. By using
Citrofresh complete and ongoing protection
against bacterial action can be assured. |
