Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch Islamic Azad University Isfahan Iran
  • 2 School of Medicine Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Isfahan Iran
  • 3 Laser and Biophotonics in Biotechnologies Research Center Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch Islamic Azad University Isfahan Iran
  • 4 Department of Food Science University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
  • 5 Food Technology Division School of Industrial Technology Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia
Food Sci Nutr, 2021 Oct;9(10):5883-5896.
PMID: 34646553 DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.2539

Abstract

Coronaviruses, which have been enveloped nonsegmented positive-sense RNA viruses, were first mentioned in the mid-1960s and can attack people as well as a wide range of animals (including mammals and birds). Three zoonotic coronaviruses have been identified as the cause of large-scale epidemics over the last two decades: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and swine acute diarrhea syndrome (SADS). Epithelial cells in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract are the principal targeted cells, and viral shedding occurs via these systems in diverse ways such as through fomites, air, or feces. Patients infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) reported having visited the Wuhan seafood wholesale market shortly before disease onset. The clinical data on established 2019-nCoV cases reported so far indicate a milder disease course than that described for patients with SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV. This study aimed to review radiation inactivation of these viruses in the food industry in three sections: visible light, ionizing radiation (alpha ray, beta ray, X-ray, gamma ray, neutron, plasma, and ozone), and nonionizing radiation (microwave, ultraviolet, infrared, laser light, and radiofrequency). Due to the obvious possibility of human-to-human and animal-to-human transmission, using at least one of these three methods in food processing and packaging during coronavirus outbreaks will be critical for preventing further outbreaks at the community level.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.