APPLICATION OF ULTRASOUND TO CONTROL OF ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS IN COSMETICS

Abstract

The effect of ultrasound on organic compounds in living tissue and are often related to the cavitation’ phenomenon, a term used to describe the formation of cavities or bubbles in a liquid medium containing varying amounts of gas or vapor that are dissolved in the middle. In medicine it is suggested that ultrasound of high intensity is able to cause some reduction in certain infectious agents and microbiology, mechanisms of inactivation of cells appear to be associated with cavitation. Due to the high power of fungal contamination of cosmetics, it is important to develop new techniques to preserve it to rapid fungi deterioration and subsequent consumer health hazard. On the present work it was probed the efficiency of ultrasound in decreasing the growth of Aspergillus flavus in cosmetic.Thus contaminated samples with the above mentioned fungus, were irradiated at constant temperature (25 oC) and power (600W/cm2), for a variety of time exposure: 0 (control), 12, 16, and 20 minutes. The ultrasound generator model VCX- 600 was utilized.It was possible to show that the use of ultrasound is efficient in decreasing the growth of microrganisms and thus preserve cosmetic which went from 35,000 CFU/mL to 50 CFU/mL. Ultrasound is a excellent biocide agent in preparation and preservation of emulsion-type cosmetics. Twenty minutes of continuous irradiation yelded an almost complete depletion of microrganisms.