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Reduction of nitrite levels in fresh lettuces with aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment
Author(s) -
Hao Jianxiong,
Li Huiying,
Wan Yangfang,
Liu Haijie
Publication year - 2015
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 - 10.1111/ijfs.12660
Subject(s) - nitrite , nitrate , chemistry , chlorine dioxide , aqueous solution , food science , dietary nitrate , leafy vegetables , environmental chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
Summary Leafy vegetables are the major source of nitrite intake in the human diet, and technological processing to control the nitrite levels is necessary to the harvested vegetables destined for consumption. In this work, the effect of aqueous chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) treatment on the nitrite levels in fresh lettuces during storage was studied. The results showed the appropriate aqueous ClO 2 solutions treatment (30 and 45 mg L −1 , 10 min) could reduce the nitrite levels or retard the peak occurrence in fresh lettuces during storage. The reduction of nitrite levels in fresh lettuces with appropriate ClO 2 treatment can be attributed to two aspects including the inactivation of nitrate reductase directly and the reduction of the bacterial populations. This study will provide a useful method to reduce the nitrite levels in fresh lettuces destined for short storage followed by consumption.