Increasing European and American market demand for high quality canned asparagus from Peru has prompted the need to identify and quantify the microbial spore load on fresh asparagus important in the establishment of safe thermal processes. This 2-phase study was made in an asparagus packing and processing company in Peru. In Phase I of the study, soil samples were taken from different field locations throughout the asparagus cultivars during the growing season. In Phase II, asparagus were taken as they moved through the entire production chain from field harvest during the cannery processing line to the retort.

Phenol can be degraded to almost 100 % within a few minutes via Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. Its degradation and the ratio of initial molar concentrations of oxidant and catalyst increase in inverse senses, and a ratio of 38.4 was optimal for aqueous solutions contaminated with 20 ppm of phenol. In addition to this, the use of ultraviolet-A light enhanced degradation when compared to shorter wavelengths.

The authors are grateful to the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for funding the project No 2016/15012-2. Soletti I., Marinho M., Schmidt B., Merlo T., are thankful to “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior” (CAPES) for the scholarships. E. Saldaña received the support from the “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica - CONCYTEC” from Peru (CIENCIACTIVA programme, PhD scholarship contract agreement No. 104-2016-FONDECYT).

The authors are grateful to CAPES (Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior, Brazil). IP received the M.Sc. scholarship of the CAPES (n? 1766129). JD Rios-Mera thanks the support of the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog?a e Innovaci?n Tecnol?gica - CONCYTEC from Peru (CIENCIACTIVA programme, PhD scholarship contract: No. 238-2018-FONDECYT). The authors would also like to thank Zucca mushrooms Company, VPJ Foods, Ibrac Additives and Condiments and Sealed Air Brazil, for donating ingredients, raw materials and packaging. IP is supported by doctoral fellowship from the FAPESP (Process N? 19/26026-2). CJCC is supported by a grant from FAPESP (Thematic Project N? 17/26667-2).