Physico-Chemical Treatments and Key Determinants of Salmonella Survival in Black Pepper: A Systematic Review,...

Black pepper, the most widely used spice in the world, can be easily contaminated with Salmonella during production or processing. Previous Salmonella outbreaks associated with spices have shown that suitable treatments are essential to ensure the safety of black pepper. Salmonella inactivation treatments can be classified into eight major categories. Survival posttreatment and during storage depends on several key factors, including both well-understood and confounding variables. Identifying the critical factors and treatment parameters to predict potential risks and develop inactivation models for risk management strategies is essential for preventing outbreaks. Therefore, all available data on Salmonella reduction treatments and survival studies were evaluated through a systematic review, log-linear regression, and meta-analysis. Publication bias was examined via Begg and Mazumdar's Rank Correlation test, while heterogeneity, identified covariates, and confounding variables were evaluated via meta-regression and subgroup analysis. A reduced quadratic secondary model was developed for heat treatments, while log-linear secondary models were used to predict outcomes for samples receiving no treatment or ClO₂ fumigation. The D-value of a treatment method was chosen as the effect size and response variable. The impact of excessively high or low variability on the ability to evaluate the influence of covariates and potential confounding variables in certain treatments was discussed. Other critical knowledge and research gaps, such as the effect of black pepper matrix on Salmonella durability, were examined. Recommendations for future research include conducting repeated experiments for each variation of a given treatment method, with sufficient variation within critical factors, so that their influence on intervention efficacy can be investigated and quantified.