Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia

Academic and Research Vice-rector

Guide to develop the practical component

1. General description of the course

Faculty or Academic Unit Faculty of Basic Sciences, Technology and Engineering

Level of formation Professional
Field of formation Disciplinary Training
Course name New products development
Course code 216005
Course type Methodological Can be enabled Yes No X
Number of credits 2

2. Description of the activity

Physical Remote laboratory Simulator x

laboratory
Type of
Specialized Professional
practice Field works
software experiences
Other Which
Type of activity: Individual Collaborative X Number of weeks 3
Moment of Intermediate,
Initial X Final
evaluation: unit:
Environment where it is done: Practical
Score of the activity: 80 points
learning
Starting date of the activity: 08/11/2018 Closing date of the activity: 28/11/2018
Topics addressed in the practical component:
Unit 2. Technical criteria for the new products development.
Learning content: Establishment of the useful life in the new products development.
Activities to develop
The name of the practice: Determination of the useful life of food products by predictive
models
To determine the useful life of food products can be done by the direct method or by indirect
methods. For the development of the practice is to work with one of the indirect methods
that corresponds to the microbiological type predictive models that are supported by
mathematical equations that use information from a database to predict the growth of
bacteria under defined conditions.
So it is necessary to review the following concepts: water activity - aw and concentration
of NaCl, pH of the food product and storage temperatura. It is required the previous
knowlendge about the bacterial growth.

Therefore, it is going to use a free software program of predictive

microbiology called ComBase. It is a repository of online database that describes the
survival and growth of pathogenic microorganisms in different environmental conditions and
a set of predictive software based on these data.
The resources to be used in practice (equipment/tools)
Computer
Internet
Username and password
Procedure. It was taken as reference Demo 1: bacterial growth. Predictive ComBase models
of the course: Microbial alteration and useful life of the food from the General Foundation of
Salamanca University.

Registration and admission to the simulator ComBase

1. Enter the address: https://www.combase.cc/index.php/en/

2. Click the button Login/Register

3. To access the simulator must be registered, click Sign Up

3. You will see a screen similar to the one in the image below. Fill out the
registration form and then click on the blue button to 'Sign up'
4. When sign in the main page of the simulator
 ComBase tools
1. ComBase Browser: is composed of
thousands of microbial growth curves
and survival, which have been collated
in research institutes and publications.
2. ComBase Predictor: they are a
collection of tools based on the data
of ComBase to predict the growth or
inactivation of microorganisms.
3. Combase Predictive Models
4. DMFIT: Online DMFit and DMFit Excel
5. Resources
6. Help

Preliminary Simulation. To use the tool Combase Predictor,

specifically the growth model
In the column on the left side of the
screen select ComBase Predictor
ComBase Predictor is a set of growth
models and models of thermal death for
predicting the response of various
microorganisms to various
environmental factors. There are
different types of models: 1. Models of
growth; 2. Thermal inactivation
models; 3. Non-thermal inactivation
models

ComBase Predictor is a highly effective

tool for the design, comparison and
validation of predictive models.
Effective in predictive microbiology.

Select the Growth Model

The main page of ComBase Predictor Growth Model can be seen in the image at
the bottom, and allows you to:

 Make predictions with a static temperature (over time) or under conditions

of fluctuating temperature in time.

 Make up to four simultaneous predictions.

Where:
1. Indicates the prediction model selected.
2. Area to set temperature is static or dynamic. The Dynamic modality, is to
enter different temperature ranges over time
3. Aqueous activity expressed as NaCl or as aw
4. Area to choose the type of microorganism.
5. Area to enter the parameters of the simulation: temperature, pH,
concentration of NaCl or aw and initial level of microorganisms.
6. Area of the results of the prediction expressed by the kinetic constants of
growth: maximum rate of growth and doubling time.
7. Area of results obtained graphically or numerically (table). To move from one
to another, you have to activate the link Chart or data points.
8. Area to extend or reduce the time of prediction. Enter the number of hours in
the box or click the + or - as the case may be.

ComBase Growth Model: Make a prediction

1. Select Category: Growth Model
2. Set the mode:
 In Temperature: select static mode.

 In aqueous activity: select NaCl

3. Select microorganism:

In the areas to secure the microorganism select in the

drop-down menu: Brochothrix thermosphacta is a
microorganism responsible for the deterioration of
meat and fish products.

4. Select Conditions:
The introduction of data can be done only by entering the figures or by moving
the cursor
 With regard to the parameters of Phys. state, must be preserved by the
resulting from the program by default.
 As the program uses the american numeric notation, decimals should be
written with point (.) instead of a comma (,).
4.1 Init. Level, write the figure of 3 or verify
that the value.
The initial level is the number of
microorganism per gram expressed as log
UFC/g. Therefore, a 3 indicates log UFC/g=3
which is equivalent to 1000 UFC/g.
4.2 Phys.state. The box is left empty or clears
the existing figure. In this way, the program
automatically completes the most suitable
figure.

The Phys.state is a dimension between 0 and

1 related to the Lag phase or phase of latency
of the micro-organism. A 1 means that the
micro-organism will multiply immediately
without lag phase.
4.3 Temperature: In the check Temp (°C)
write the value of 20 or verify that the value
exist.
4.4 pH. In the pH box, write the figure of 7 or
verify that the value.

4.5 NaCl. In the NaCl box (%), twrite the

figure of 0.6 or verify that the value.

4.6 Time (h). In the box that appears below

the chart Time (h) enter 25 hours.

Run the prediction

1. Is required to press the Enter or Return key after changing a parameter.

2. To run the model with the data entered or selected are generated the results
of the prediction:

3. The results of the prediction are expressed by the kinetic constants of growth:
maximum rate of growth (Log. conc/h) and doubling time (h) in the highlighted
area in red.

4. The area of results obtained graphically or numerically. To pass from one to

the other, activate the bonton Chart or data points.

Results of the prediction

1. Results in graph: To run the model under the conditions laid down and during
the hours fixed, is the prediction by following the formulas of the model in a
graphical way expressing the log UFC/g for the duration set, which for example
is of 25 hours, and results in the following graph:
2. Results in Table: at the top of the graph are two push buttons to view the
results graphically or numerically. To view the results in the form of a table click
in the data points, which displays a table with the concentration of micro-
organisms in Conc (log10 UFC/g) at regular intervals of time, as noted below:

3. Kinetic results: Below the area where you enter the conditions appear two
(2) measures that dererminan bacterial growth for these conditions, which are:

Maximum speed or rate of growth Max.rate (log.conc/h)

Doubling Time Dbl.time(Hours), time in hours in which it doubles the
population.
Development environment: Practical learning
Products to
deliver by the Report of practical component group
student:
Type of
Individual X Collaborative X No product must be sent
product:
Individual:
 Screenshots which demonstrates the use of the simulator. With the student's name.
 Analysis and conclusions with arguments of the obtained data
Collaborative
Report on the environment monitoring and evaluation in the link- Phase 4. Develop the
practical component - Delivery of the activity.

The structure of the report should be as follows:

Home with student data

 Response to the questionnaire

 Screenshots which demonstrates the use of the simulator, according to the conditions
given in the table. Each image must have a header and an explanation.

 Analyze and conclude with arguments the obtained data.