Industrial device for the continuous UV-C treatment of fruit and vegetables: simulation-aided design and model validation

The irradiation of foods with UV-C light is a non-thermal and non-chemical treatment that allows for achieving several benefits, from surface decontamination to hormetic effects on biological matrices. Nowadays, even if its effects have been extensively proven and discussed, UV-C radiation is not widespread on an industrial level for the treatment of solid and liquid foods, mainly due to technical limitations and the non-uniformity of legislation for different products and among different countries. In this study, numerical simulation was adopted as a tool for the design and optimization of a device for the UV-C treatment of fruits and vegetables. After validating the modelling approach, the radiation treatment was evaluated for different product configurations. The proposed approach aims to facilitate the implementation and the scale-up of the UV-C treatment in the food industry, as it allows for assessing its effects under different operating conditions, prior to the physical prototyping stages.