TY - JOUR TI - Efficacy of chlorine dioxide gas in inactivating salmonella spp. on mung beans sprouts DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3TX3CDX PY - 2013 AB - Rising popularity of fresh sprouted beans and grains as a source of good nutrition also brings increased challenges for maintaining food safety and quality. Internalization of various microorganisms apart from surface localization is a hurdle in ensuring safe produce of high quality. Microorganisms internalized in stomata and crevices may not be affected by the traditional chlorine sanitizing wash treatment. Sprouts, integral to many cuisines, have been the focus of media attention due to the frequency and severity of microbial outbreaks. Sprouts provide good matrices for microbial localization and growth due to optimal conditions of temperature and humidity while sprouting and lack of post-processing. In fact, the microbial populations on sprouts are some of the largest reported for fresh produce. As conventional aqueous chlorine sanitizing wash treatment was unable to provide more than 2 log10 CFU/gram reduction in Salmonella spp. levels, this research explores the antimicrobial effectiveness of gaseous chlorine dioxide on mung bean sprouts. 3 – 4 log CFU/gram reduction was achieved in Salmonella serovar inoculated sprouts by gaseous chlorine dioxide application at various time combinations. The difference in microbial reduction points to the important role of surface physiology, pore structure and bacterial internalization in sprouts. Consequently, the surface morphology of sprouts has been studied to understand the better efficacy of gaseous antimicrobial chlorine dioxide. As the microbial loads and microorganism distribution on sprouts is variable, a three-dimensional printer was utilized to design and create consistent reliable silicone substrates which can simulate the surface physiology and pore structure of sprouts. Sprouts have a complex farm-to-fork path with multiple microbial contamination scenarios. This research helps understand how gaseous antimicrobials and increase in surface area available for antimicrobial application can provide more effective microbial load reduction. KW - Food Science KW - Cooking (Sprouts) KW - Food handling KW - Chlorine dioxide KW - Salmonella food poisoning LA - eng ER -