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Dynamics and variability of bacterial population density on leaves of field‐grown endive destined for ready‐to‐use processing
Author(s) -
MORRIS CINDY E.,
LUCOTTE THÉRÈSE
Publication year - 1993
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/j.1365-2621.1993.tb01265.x
Subject(s) - biology , greenhouse , growing season , population , horticulture , bacteria , botany , demography , genetics , sociology
Summary To quantify the variability and dynamics of bacterial populations on field‐grown broad‐leaved endive ( Cichorium endivia cv. Samy) destined for ready‐to‐use processing, plants were sown at three dates in 1990 for cultivation during the autumn season in southern France. Densities of populations of total, fluorescent pseudomonad and pectolytic bacteria were determined for entire seedlings in the greenhouse and for outer and inner leaves of plants in the field throughout the season until harvest. On seedlings from the greenhouse, bacteria were always detected but fluorescent and pectolytic bacteria were only sporadically detected and generally composed less than 0.1% of the total population. In the field there were significant differences in total, fluorescent and pectolytic bacterial populations on outer and inner leaves, among different plants of the same age, and among inner leaves sampled at the three different dates of harvest. the variability observed suggests that it is reasonable to pursue development of cultural or industrial sorting methods to reduce the microbial load of endive destined for ready‐to‐use processing.