RT info:eu-repo/semantics/conferencePaper T1 Effect of disinfection and drying of wild carob pods (Neltuma sp.) on the safety of the carob flour A1 Martínez Jara, Karen Patricia A1 Sotto, Natasha A1 Villalba Salas, Rocío Andrea A1 Caballero Soto, Silvia Beatriz A1 Mereles Ceuppens, Laura Graciela AB In the hostile and challenging environment of the Paraguayan Chaco, the wild carob pods (Neltuma spp.) are a valuable vegetable resource that provides nutrition and significant economic opportunities for the local populations by means of carob flour production. However, the microbiological quality of the carob flour is limited due to the manual gathering. The main objective of this investigation is to find an efficient disinfectant and its minimum application level to obtain microbial stability in carob flour. The microbial load (total mesophilic aerobes, moulds, and yeasts, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp.) of the flour obtained by disinfection with citric acid (1 and 3%) and sodium hypochlorite (1 and 3%) was compared. Drying tests were carried out at time intervals of 2, 4, 6, and 7 h on whole carob pods to obtain flour in a hot air circulating tray type dryer, and humidity was used as a response variable in a thermobalance (desirable humidity < 5%). A combined process of disinfection with 3% citric acid and hot air circulating tray-type drying for 7 h at 60 °C is proposed to obtain an innocuous carob flour of high microbiological quality. PB Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute YR 2024 FD 2024-11-06 LK http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14066/4837 UL http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14066/4837 LA eng NO Martínez, K., Sotto, N., Villalba, R., Caballero, S., & Mereles, L. (2024). Effect of Disinfection and Drying of Wild Carob Pods (Neltuma sp.) on the Safety of the Carob Flour. Biology and Life Sciences Forum, 37(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2024037006 NO Correspondence: lauramereles@qui.una.py. NO Presented at the VI International Congress la ValSe-Food, Lima, Peru, 23–25 September 2024. NO This article belongs to the Proceedings of VI International Congress la ValSe-Food. NO Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología DS MINDS@UW RD 22-sep-2026