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Effect of Surface Properties on Colloid Retention on Natural and Surrogate Produce Surfaces
Author(s) -
Lazouskaya Volha,
Sun Taozhu,
Liu Li,
Wang Gang,
Jin Yan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/1750-3841.13543
Subject(s) - colloid , contamination , water retention , surface roughness , polystyrene , chemistry , contact angle , chemical engineering , materials science , polymer , environmental science , composite material , biology , soil water , soil science , organic chemistry , ecology , engineering
Bacterial contamination of fresh produce is a growing concern in food industry. Pathogenic bacteria can attach to and colonize the surfaces of fresh produce and cause disease outbreaks among consumers. Surface properties of both bacteria and produce affect bacterial contamination; however, the effects of produce roughness, topography, and hydrophobicity on bacterial retention are still poorly understood. In this work, we used spherical polystyrene colloids as bacterial surrogates to investigate colloid retention on and removal (by rinsing) from fresh produce surfaces including tomato, orange, apple, lettuce, spinach, and cantaloupe, and from surrogate produce surface Sharklet (a micro‐patterned polymer). All investigated surfaces were characterized in terms of surface roughness and hydrophobicity (including contact angle and water retention area measurements). The results showed that there was no single parameter that dominated colloid retention on fresh produce, yet strong connection was found between colloid retention and water retention and distribution on all the surfaces investigated except apple. Rinsing was generally not efficient in removing colloids from produce surfaces, which suggests the need to modify current cleaning procedures and to develop novel contamination prevention strategies. This work offers a physicochemical approach to a food safety problem and improves understanding of mechanisms leading to produce contamination.