The effects of ultrafiltration and ultraviolet radiation on microbial content and chemical composition of rose water

Rose water is the known product of distillation process of Rosa damascena Mill. It is considered as relaxing and calming agent in religious ceremony as well as favorable food and beverage additive. Rose water contamination can limit its quality and applications. In this study, the combination of ultrafiltration and ultraviolet treatment (F-U treatment) was used to reduce rosewater contamination in traditional and industrial rosewater products. The compositions of essential oils of samples were also analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) before and after treatment. The results demonstrate that F-U treatment was able to reduce microbial load in all samples without any significant effects on essential oil constituent. GC/MS analysis shows that phenethyl alcohol and citronellol are the main compounds identified in samples before and after treatment. Consequently, application of ultrafiltration and ultraviolet (UV) radiation not only can diminish microbial contamination but also do not decompose the chemical compounds of samples. On the basis of these results, the combination of ultrafiltration and UV radiation beside other physical methods may be valuable alternative technique to obtain high-quality rose water with preserving its constituents, which may be lost during traditional thermal methods.