Effects of intense pulsed light and gamma irradiation on Bacillus cereus spores in mesquite pod flour

•The 28s- catalytic intense pulsed light resulted in 1.69 logs reduction of B. cereus spore.•The 8 kGy gamma resulted in 3.51 logs reduction of B. cereus spore in mesquite flour.•Fatty acid oxidation was observed after 28s- catalytic intense pulsed light treatments.•Acetic acids and proprionic acid did not increase significantly after both treatments.•These processes did not lead to significant change in cytotoxicity for treated mesquite flour. This study was conducted to evaluate the inactivation of Bacillus cereus spore in mesquite flour with intense pulsed light (IPL) and gamma radiation. The physical, chemical, and toxicity of treated mesquite flour were also investigated. The results showed that up to 3.51 log10CFU/g B. cereus spore inactivation was achieved with 8 kGy of gamma radiation, and up to 1.69 log10CFU/g reductions could be achieved after 28s of catalytic IPL exposure. Although chemometric analysis showed 9-hydroxy-10,12-octadecadienoic acid was slightly increased after a 28s-catalytic IPL treatment, the concentration is within the acceptable range. No significant increase in acetic or propionic acids (typical off-flavor volatile compounds) was observed after either treatment. For cytotoxicity, the Caco-2 cell viability analysis revealed that these two technologies did not induce significant cytotoxicity to the treated mesquite flour. Overall, these two technologies exhibit strong potential for the decontamination of B. cereus in mesquite flour.