Detection of microbial contamination of UHT milk packages using ultrasonic system

In current investigation a quality control ultrasonic system has been presented for detecting microbial contamination of UHT milk packages. This system is able to detect microbial contamination of milk packages without opening them. Microorganisms’ growth causes some changes in physical and chemical properties of milk resulting in changes of ultrasonic properties of milk. In this study amplitude and time of flight of ultrasonic waves were measured. The center frequency of piezoelectric discs was 1.02 MHz and all of experiments were done in temperature 35°C. Ultrasonic tests were conducted for microorganisms Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aurous and Bacillus cereus. The results showed that different bacteria’s metabolisms affected chemical properties of milk and detecting process of microbial contamination. Ultrasonic system was able to detect microbial contamination after 7.25 to 12.5 h. from microbe injection. Also, the results showed that ultrasonic system can detect microbial contamination in various values of acidity and pH of milk packages.