Inactivation of microorganisms by low-frequency high-power ultrasound: 2. A simple model for the inactivation mechanism

•A theoretical model based on shear forces from ultrasound cavities is proposed.•Two microbes with different sizes were treated by high-power low frequency ultrasound.•The log microbial reduction increased linearly with increasing treat time or power.•The rate of inactivation increased as the decreasing initial cell number.•The fits from the model are in very good agreement with the experimental data. A simple theoretical model based on shear forces generated by the collapse of the ultrasound cavities near the surface of a microorganism is proposed. This model requires two parameters which take into account the number of acoustic cavitation bubbles, and the resistance of the cell wall of the microorganism to the shear forces generated by bubble collapse. To validate the model, high-power low frequency (20kHz) ultrasound was used to inactivate two microorganisms with very different sizes, viz., a bacterium, Enterobacter aerogenes and a yeast, Aureobasidium pullulans. The inactivation ratio was experimentally measured as a function of sonication time for different ultrasound power and for different initial cell numbers. For both E. aerogenes and A. pullulans the Log of the inactivation ratio decreased linearly with sonication time, and the rate of inactivation increased (D-value decreased) with the increase in sonication power. The rate of inactivation was also found, for both microorganisms, to increase with a decrease in the initial cell number. The fits, obtained using the proposed model, are in very good agreement with the experimental data.