ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research ISSN 2241-9837 Vol. 12 (3), pp. 001-007, March, 2018. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Antimicrobial effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water for inactivation of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli on fresh strawberries (Fragaria L.)
Abdulsudi Issa-Zacharia1,2, Yoshinori Kamitani3, Happiness Muhimbula2 and Koichi Iwasaki3
1Laboratory of Food Biosystems and Environment, 1-21-24 Korimoto, United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan.
2Department of Food Science and Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3006, Morogoro, Tanzania.
3Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan.
Accepted 24 January, 2018
Abstract
Antimicrobial effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW: pH 5.6 ± 0.1, 20.5 ± 1.3 mg/L available chlorine concentration; ACC) against indigenous aerobic mesophiles and inoculated Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. on fresh strawberry was assessed. The antimicrobial effect of SAEW was compared with that of strong acidic electrolyzed water (StAEW) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution. SAEW effectively reduced total aerobic mesophilic bacteria from strawberries by 1.68 log10CFU/g and was not significantly different from that of NaOCl solution (p > 0.05). Antimicrobial effect of SAEW against Salmonella spp. and E. coli was indicated by a more than 2 log10CFU/g reduction of their population and the effect was not significantly different from that of NaOCl solution and StAEW at similar treatment conditions (p > 0.05). From these findings, SAEW with a near- neutral pH and low available chlorine concentration exhibits an equivalent bactericidal effectiveness to NaOCl solution and thus SAEW is a potential sanitizer that would be used as an alternative for StAEW and NaOCl solution in the fresh fruit and vegetables industry.
Key words: Slightly acidic electrolyzed water, strawberry, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp