Abstract
The inactivation of Escherichia coli K-12 was investigated in a system using a pulsed electric field (PEF) and a spiral silver wire electrode. The survival ratios of E. coli K-12 decreased with increasing voltage. The sterilization effect was greater with a high-voltage silver wire electrode than with a stainless steel electrode. This result was attributed to the enhancement of PEF inactivation by the lethal effect of silver. The PEF inactivation effect with electrochemically eluted silver was higher than that with silver nitrate solution, though the silver concentrations were almost the same. These results suggest that simultaneous treatment of E. coli cells with PEF inactivation and silver electrochemical elution improves inactivation efficiency.
