Abstract:Objective: This study aimed to study the effect of pulsed light on sterilization of beverage bottle caps and to expand its application in PET aseptic filling. Methods: The effect of pulsed light (PL) on the sterilization of 38 mm and 28 mm beverage bottle caps was evaluated. The factors affecting sterilization efficiency included initial aerobic bacterial count, PL irradiation distance and pulse frequency. Results: The results showed that the sterilization efficiency was proportional to the initial aerobic bacterial count and flash time, while it was inversely proportional to PL irradiation distance. When the PL treatment was performed by 7 cm irradiation distance and 5 flash times, the maximum sterilization efficiencies for 38 mm and 28 mm bottle caps were 4.87 log and 4.71 log, respectively. Meanwhile, the bacillus on bottle caps were entirely killed with the initial aerobic bacterial counts of 1×102 CFU. While the PL treatment was conducted by 7 cm irradiation distance and ten flash times, the maximum sterilization efficiencies for 38 mm and 28 mm bottle caps were 5.34 log and 5.28 log, respectively. Moreover, the bacillus on bottle caps was killed completely with the initial aerobic bacterial counts of 1×103 CFU. Conclusion: The pulsed light sterilization technology could kill the bacillus on the bottle caps to a certain extent and be applied to sterilizing HDPE bottle caps in the aseptic filling process of beverage products.