Modeling the Growth of Epiphytic Bacteria on Kale Treated by Thermosonication Combined with Slightly Acidic Electrolyzed Water and Stored under Dynamic Temperature Conditions

Abstract The growth of epiphytic bacteria (aerobic mesophilic bacteria or Pseudomonas spp.) on kale was modeled isothermally and validated under dynamic storage temperatures. Each bacterial count on kale stored at isothermal conditions (4 to 25 °C) was recorded. The results show that maximum growth rate ( μ max ) of both epiphytic bacteria increased and lag time ( λ ) decreased with increasing temperature ( P < 0.05). The maximum population density ( N max ) of Pseudomonas spp. was significantly greater than that of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, particularly in treated samples and/or at 4 and 10 °C ( P < 0.05). The relationship between μ max of both epiphytic bacteria and temperature was linear ( R 2 > 0.97), whereas lower R 2 > 0.86 and R 2 > 0.87 was observed for the λ and N max , respectively. The overall predictions of both epiphytic bacterial growths under nonisothermal conditions with temperature abuse of 15 °C agreed with the observed data, whereas those with temperature abuse of 25 °C were greatly overestimated. The appropriate parameter q 0 (physiological state of cells), therefore, was adjusted by a trial and error to fit the model. This study demonstrates that the developed model was able to predict accurately epiphytic bacterial growth on kale stored under nonisothermal conditions particularly those with low temperature abuse of 15 °C.