Investigations of blue light-induced reactive oxygen species from flavin mononucleotide on inactivation of E. coli

• Photolysis of riboflavin mononucleotide by blue light for an antimicrobial method.
• Nucleic acids of E. coli are damaged with free radicals by photo-degradation.
• Blue light with water soluble photosensitizer is optimized to inactivate E. coli.
• Illumination of light-emitting diode could be practical for hygienic requirements.

The micronutrients in many cellular processes, riboflavin, flavin mononucleotide (FMN), and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) are photo-sensitive to UV and visible light for generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). Produced from phosphorylation of riboflavin, FMN is more water-soluble and rapidly transformed into free riboflavin after ingestion. This study investigated the application of visible blue light with FMN to development of an effective antimicrobial treatment. The photosensitization of bacterial viability with FMN was investigated by light quality, intensity, time, and irradiation dosage. The blue light-induced photochemical reaction with FMN could inactivate Escherichiacoli by the generated ROS in damaging nucleic acids, which was validated. This novel photodynamic technique could be a safe practice for photo-induced inactivation of environmental microorganism to achieve hygienic requirements in food processing.

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