Demonstration of microbiological status of fresh fruits and determining the efficiency of different decontaminating agents against the isolated bacteria
Consumption of fresh fruits increases along with the promotion of healthier lifestyles. However, many foodborne illnesses have been reported due to the consumption of contaminated fruits. Fresh produces are subjected to various treatments for minimizing these outbreaks. The present study demonstrate...
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Published in | Food Research (Online) Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 438 - 443 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
28.04.2022
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Consumption of fresh fruits increases along with the promotion of healthier lifestyles.
However, many foodborne illnesses have been reported due to the consumption of
contaminated fruits. Fresh produces are subjected to various treatments for minimizing
these outbreaks. The present study demonstrates the role of various simple household
methods including water washing and some other common chemical treatments for the
removal of bacterial load. By performing the spread plate technique, total heterotrophic
bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus spp., Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were
determined in 60 samples of 6 categories including Apple (Malus domestica); Grape (Vitis
vinifera); Guava (Psidium guajava); Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa); Indian jujube
(Ziziphus mauritiana); Malabar plum (Syzygium cumini) before and after washing with tap
water, hot water, 100 mg/L sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 50 mg/L calcium lactate, 4%
acetic acid and 2 mL/L CleanAva for 20 mins at room temperature. All the tested
solutions were found to be effective and reduced bacterial loads in fruits compared to the
unwashed fruits samples (P<0.01). Treatment with NaOCl, calcium lactate, acetic acid and
CleanAva was the more effective washing technique rather than hot water wash. Two to
three log of the bacterial load was reduced when samples were subjected to treatment with
chemical decontaminating agents. The efficiency of washing depends on the purity of
water, and the types and concentration of the disinfectant solutions. An appropriate
washing technique needs to implicate to diminish bacterial load and the risk of foodborne
infections caused by fruits. |
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ISSN: | 2550-2166 2550-2166 |
DOI: | 10.26656/fr.2017.6(2).317 |