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What is Citrofresh?
Citrofresh is a new, unique and natural biocide made from orange extracts. It has a broad spectrum microbial activity that has been developed for the food industry, specifically for use in treatment of fresh produce and food products.

How does it work?
Citrofresh is a phytopharmaceutical of organic origin that acts mechanistically by destroying the cellular membrane of a micro-organism. This is due to a synergistic reaction created by the "reaction" of bioflavonoid's and ascorbic acid with other natural organic acids present in Citrofresh.

UNIQUE BIOCIDAL FEATURES
The Citrofresh range has broad spectrum activity and is effective against bacteria, (both gram positive and gram negative), viruses and fungi.

Citrofresh formulations do not invoke pathogen mutations. The unique combination of it’s active ingredients ensures that the biocidal activity (via cell wall intrusion) is not influenced by mutation in the pathogens. This is not the case with most synthetically produced biocides, which have to be periodically substituted to avoid "Pathogen Tolerance“ and/or “Pathogen Mutation.”

UNIQUE PERFORMANCE
As demonstrated by independent tests performed by Microsearch Laboratories Ltd to the European standards entitled 'Test Methods for Determining the Antimicrobial Effects of Disinfectants in Food Hygiene', Citrofresh was unique amongst the available 'natural' process washes in passing all the test standards.

Typically, in a TVC (total viable count) of e7, a 5-log reduction is required to be achieved.

Note: The Citrofresh range is effective up to 107 microbial loading at the recommended dilution level. Above this figure, new dilution levels must be calculated based on the logarithmic microbial loading relationship.

STRONG RESIDUAL EFFECT
The range possesses the UNIQUE ability to go on working for periods of up to 48 hours (residual effect). This feature has positive implications for the extension of shelf life in fresh produce and food. (Summaries available).

SAFETY
Citrofresh is unique in having such high performance efficacy, with no negative harmful side effects. It is non-carcinogenic, non-allergenic and non – toxic. It does not promote mutations in pathogens. Even in its concentrated form, it is not harmful to the skin, and the used wash solutions may be disposed of by pouring down the drain without harm to the environment.

The Benefits of Citrofresh
It is a unique natural biocide.
It has a very broad spectrum anti-microbial activity.
It breaks down biofilm.
It is effective in the presence of organic matter.
It has a strong residual effect.
It is non-tainting and does not change the flavour of food or produce.
It has no harmful side effects.
It is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-mutagenic and non-corrosive.
It passes the European Suspension Test.
Citrofresh complies with the EU Regulation 2092/91, and is approved for washes by MAFF and exceeds the requirement of the European Suspension Test No. BSEN1276 and chemical disinfectants and antiseptics basic bactericidal activity BSEN1040.

Citrofresh Composition
SELECTION OF INGREDIENTS
The Citrofresh Component
Citrofresh is extracted from specific varieties of oranges. The pith and pulp from the fruit are isolated, and then dried to a powder, followed by water extraction of the natural biocidal components.

Other Ingredients
The basic Citrofresh extract may be blended with other substances which the FDA specify as "Generally Regarded As Safe" ("GRAS"). This permits the production of materials which can be tailored for use in specific commercial applications, such as cleaners and sanitisers for the Food and Agricultural Industries, including the Meat, Poultry, Seafood and Horticultural Industries.


DESCRIPTION OF EXTRACTION OF THE ACTIVE COMPONENT
The pulp and pith from citrus fruits, which in this case are by-products from orange juice production, are dried and ground into a fine powder. This powder is a mixture of water soluble bioflavonoids, with nitrogen complex bioflavonoids, low chain pectins, natural sugars, monoglycerides, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), plus a range of water soluble minerals and insoluble fibres.

This powder is then dissolved in water, and cold-water extraction is used to obtain the desired biocidal material components. The extracted material is then pressure filtered and the filtrate retained as the anti-oxidant biocidal component.

Production of Citrofresh 14W
The main food processing derivative is Citrofresh 14W,and this is produced from the basic bioflavonoid material by the addition of ascorbic acid and other natural ingredients.


Citrofresh -Biocide It’s Origin

Orange Pith & Pulp - Purified Water - Blend Filter
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Bioflavonoid Complex Citrofresh Natural Biocide



Application & Techniques
METHODS OF USE
Citrofresh 14W is easy to apply and has been used successfully by dipping, spraying and fogging methods. Where large quantities of produce have to be treated, the use of dry fogging has been found to give maximum utilisation efficiency.

NOTE 1: We have a portable dry fogging test set available, and can arrange for site trials on request.

NOTE 2: During recent test trials, dry fogging has shown material utilisation efficiencies 3 to 5 times higher than other conventional techniques.

Citrofresh 14W has been introduced successfully as a highly effective, completely non-toxic wash. It has been used on a wide range of fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood and plant products. This information sheet concentrates on fruit and vegetable products only, however 14W can also be used very beneficially on fish and meat products and in fish and meat handling plants. 14W has been successfully used on the following types of products:
Leaf Salads - Lettuce etc.
Leafy/flowery Vegetables – Broccoli, Cauliflower etc.
Vegetable Fruits
Immature - Cucumbers, Peppers etc.
Mature - Melons, Tomatoes etc.
Underground Vegetables - Root Vegetables - Carrots,
Tubers, Potatoes, Bulbs - Onions etc.
Stone Fruits - Apricots, Plums, Nectarines etc.
Vine Fruits - Grapes etc.
Berries - Strawberries, Blueberries etc.
Citrus Fruits – Lemons, Oranges, Grapefruits etc.
Tropical/exotic Fruits - Pineapples, Papayas etc.
Apples & Pears etc.
Lemon Trees.


Biofilms
The danger of bacterial attachment to surfaces, in a "biofilm", has long been known to cooling tower operators. Only recently however, has there been an awareness of the possibility of bacterial attachment via biofilms directly to foods and to food preparation surfaces. Recent work reported by the Institute of Food Technology has identified the risks.

This report shows that initial attachment generally takes between 20 minutes and 2 hours after initial bacterial contact. Listeria was shown to become attached to stainless steel after only 20 minutes.

DEALING WITH BIOFILM ATTACHMENT
Attached micro-organisms have been shown to be from 150 to 3000 times, more resistant to hypochloric acid, (free chlorine pH7), than unattached cells.

Attached Listeria monocytogenes colonies were found to be resistant to treatment with benzalkonium chloride over application times of 20 minutes, whereas unattached cells were destroyed in a 30 second exposure to this material.

In general the older a biofilm, the more resistant it is to cleaners and sanitisers.

The studies reported that, when the interval between cleanings exceeds 8 hours, then the build up of attached bacteria can be such that they may resist cleaning and sanitisation. The possibility of this should be kept in mind when planning the timing of cleaning programmes, particularly over weekends.

Frequent, correct cleaning followed by sanitising with an effective disinfectant is essential to keep food preparation surfaces safe from attached bacterial contamination. Independent tests of Citrofresh based sanitisers show that they are among the most effective for bacterial control in such situations. Commonly used substances such as chlorine, iodophors and neutral quaternary compounds are among the least effective.



FORMATION AND REMOVAL OF BIOFILMS
Recent work on problems associated with farm and food plant hygiene has resulted in a more critical approach to farm hygiene practice. Biofilms are now seen as a major source of food contamination. These biofilms have been found to be highly resistant to removal by traditional techniques.

The diagram which follows shows the action of a biofilm. The biofilm acts as a barrier to biocides like chlorine which react only with the surface layers. This type of action allows the lower, protected bacteria population to grow unchecked until they reach proportions where they break out of the biofilm layer to cause disease and infection. These effects are shown in the diagram below.



Chlorination of such areas only removes unbound bacteria (which are 150-3000 times more easily removed than bound bacteria). After a few hours, the bacteria held in the biofilm reproduce and the bacterial numbers soon return to their original levels.

Only Citrofresh is powerful enough to remove the biofilm, kill the contained bacteria, and provide residual effect to prevent further infection. By using Citrofresh complete and ongoing protection against bacterial action can be assured.