Use of Nisin as an Aid in Reduction of Thermal Process of Bottled Sikhae (Rice Beverage)

Conventional commercial thermal process for preparing Sikhae (Rice beverage) in a hermetically sealed container was evaluated to solve the nutritional deterioration and organoleptic inferiority problem caused by severe heat treatment. A milder thermal process with an aid of Nisin, a GRAS-grade, selectively germicidal compound, was introduced to destroy the putrefactive microorganisms. In this experiment, hot-filling method with Nisin, and thermal processing (at 110$^{\circ}C$ for 15 minutes with Nisin, at 121$^{\circ}C$ for 25 minutes without Nisin) were compared. The quality of Sikhae could be enhanced and over 90% of the thermal process could be conserved by this process in terms of sterilizing value without quality deterioration when processing the bottled Sikhae at 110$^{\circ}$ for 15 minutes $\{(F^{10}{_{121})_{process}=1.54\}$.