Abstract
Abstract The washing step is necessary to remove biological and physical hazards from minimally processed vegetables. Nevertheless, the risk of foodborne diseases could persist even after washing due to postsanitizing contamination, and little is known about the antimicrobial effect of residual sanitizers. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite (SH), sodium bicarbonate, and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oil (CEO) as sanitizers on lettuce (8°C, 48 h). First, the effect of sanitizers in reducing total aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria, yeast and molds, lactic acid bacteria, and Enterobacteriaceae on lettuce was evaluated with some insights on lettuce quality attributes (pH, color, and sensory analysis). Then, the capability of the treatments in preventing postwashing Salmonella adhesion on lettuce surface was investigated. Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce, without affecting the overall acceptability after 48 h at 8°C. SH reduced postsanitizing Salmonella adhesion of about 2.7 Log colony forming unit (CFU)/g. The microbial reduction was confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which also evidenced Salmonella internalization within stomata. Interestingly, CEO as well reduced Salmonella adhesion but with lower efficacy (0.44–1.00 Log CFU/g reduction), while sodium bicarbonate (15 mg/ml) was not effective. In conclusion, SH and CEO seem to be effective sanitizing agents, capable of improving the microbiological profile of fresh produce. In addition, the residual sanitizers, that remain on lettuce after washing, play a role in reducing Salmonella adhesion.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Commercial SH disinfectant (2%) reduced microbial contamination on lettuce after 48 h at 8°C.
- Taxon
- lettuce
Lactuca sativae1 - Treatment
- Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%)e1
- Outcome
- microbial contaminatione1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Qualifier
- after 48 h at 8°Ce1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce, without affecting the overall acceptability after 48 h at 8°C”
Claim · model-written summary
CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination on lettuce after 48 h at 8°C.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- CEO (0.5%)e1
- Outcome
- microbial contaminatione1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Qualifier
- after 48 h at 8°Ce1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce, without affecting the overall acceptability after 48 h at 8°C”
Claim · model-written summary
Commercial SH disinfectant (2%) did not affect overall acceptability of lettuce after 48 h at 8°C.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%)e1
- Outcome
- overall acceptabilitye1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
- Qualifier
- after 48 h at 8°Ce1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce, without affecting the overall acceptability after 48 h at 8°C”
Claim · model-written summary
CEO (0.5%) did not affect overall acceptability of lettuce after 48 h at 8°C.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- CEO (0.5%)e1
- Outcome
- overall acceptabilitye1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
- Qualifier
- after 48 h at 8°Ce1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce, without affecting the overall acceptability after 48 h at 8°C”
Claim · model-written summary
SH reduced postsanitizing Salmonella adhesion on lettuce by about 2.7 Log CFU/g.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- SHe2
- Interactor
- Salmonella
Salmonellae2pathogen - Outcome
- Salmonella adhesione2
- Direction
- reducede2
- Value
- 2.7 Log colony forming unit (CFU)/ge2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“SH reduced postsanitizing Salmonella adhesion of about 2.7 Log colony forming unit (CFU)/g”
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce”
Claim · model-written summary
CEO reduced Salmonella adhesion on lettuce with lower efficacy, by 0.44–1.00 Log CFU/g.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- CEOe3
- Interactor
- SalmonellaSalmonellae3pathogen
- Outcome
- Salmonella adhesione3
- Direction
- reducede3
- Value
- 0.44–1.00 Log CFU/ge3
- Qualifier
- lower efficacye3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“CEO as well reduced Salmonella adhesion but with lower efficacy (0.44–1.00 Log CFU/g reduction)”
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce”
Claim · model-written summary
Sodium bicarbonate (15 mg/ml) was not effective at reducing Salmonella adhesion on lettuce.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- sodium bicarbonate (15 mg/ml)e4
- Interactor
- SalmonellaSalmonellae4pathogen
- Outcome
- Salmonella adhesione4
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“CEO as well reduced Salmonella adhesion but with lower efficacy (0.44–1.00 Log CFU/g reduction), while sodium bicarbonate (15 mg/ml) was not effective”
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce”
Claim · model-written summary
Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed Salmonella internalization within lettuce stomata.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae1
- Organ / stage
- stomatae5
- Interactor
- SalmonellaSalmonellae5pathogen
- Outcome
- Salmonella internalization within stomatae5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“The microbial reduction was confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which also evidenced Salmonella internalization within stomata”
e1“Commercial SH disinfectant (solution at 2%) and CEO (0.5%) reduced microbial contamination in lettuce”
Claim · model-written summary
Residual sanitizers that remain on lettuce after washing play a role in reducing Salmonella adhesion.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae6
- Treatment
- residual sanitizerse6
- Outcome
- Salmonella adhesione6
- Direction
- reducinge6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e6“the residual sanitizers, that remain on lettuce after washing, play a role in reducing Salmonella adhesion”
The same questions in other papers
sodium hypochlorite · quality: general · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
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botanical · quality: general · Lactuca sativa (garden lettuce)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
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6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.