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Ultrasound decontamination of minimally processed fruits and vegetables
Author(s) -
Seymour I. J.,
Burfoot D.,
Smith R. L.,
Cox L. A.,
Lockwood A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2621.2002.00613.x
Subject(s) - human decontamination , ultrasound , hand sanitizer , salmonella , ultrasound treatment , water treatment , chlorine , pulp and paper industry , food science , waste management , toxicology , environmental science , environmental engineering , medicine , chemistry , biology , bacteria , genetics , organic chemistry , engineering , radiology
The effectiveness of power ultrasound for the microbial decontamination of minimally processed fruits and vegetables was studied. Reductions in Salmonella typhimurium attached to iceberg lettuce obtained by cleaning with water, chlorinated water, ultrasound with water and ultrasound with chlorinated water were 0.7, 1.7, 1.5 and 2.7 logs, respectively, for small‐scale (2 L) trials. The cleaning action of cavitation appears to remove cells attached to the surface of fresh produce, rendering the pathogens more susceptible to the sanitizer. For large‐scale (40 L) trials, the addition of chlorine to water in the tank gave a systematic difference in Escherichia coli decontamination efficiency. However, the frequency of ultrasound treatment (25, 32–40, 62–70 kHz) had no significant effect on decontamination efficiency ( P > 0.69). With the potentially high capital expenditure together with the expensive process of optimization and water treatment, it is unlikely that the fresh produce industry would be willing to take up this technology. Furthermore, the additional one log reduction achieved by applying ultrasound to a chlorinated water wash does not completely eliminate the risk of pathogens on fresh produce.