Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6935-1576

Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Committee Chair

Cangliang Shen

Committee Co-Chair

Annette Freshour

Committee Member

Jacek Jaczynski

Abstract

Triple-wash with a mixture of peroxyacetic acid and H2O2 (SaniDate-5.0) during post-harvest processing of fresh produce has been recommended by West Virginia Small Farm Center to improve microbial safety. It has been well recognized that the washing of produce is more important for preventing cross-contamination than reducing foodborne pathogens. Furthermore, it may help improve public confidence in that the produce they obtain from locally grown farmers is safe for their consumption. determine the efficacy of SaniDate-5.0 for reducing the survival and preventing cross-contamination of the Salmonella surrogate Enterococcus faecium on tomatoes during triple-wash.

E. faecium ATCC-8459 (resistant to 100-ppm nalidixic-acid) was dip-inoculated onto 2-tomatoes and triple-washed with 4-un-inoculated-tomatoes following the procedure of water dip, water dip, and SaniDate-5.0 dip (0, 0.0064, 0.25, and 0.50%) with 45-s of each step. Each tomato was placed into sample bags with 150 ml of sterile tryptic soy broth for 2-min in a stomacher blender. The inoculated surrogate bacteria on tomatoes or in wash-waters were enumerated using a modified MPN-method in 8×6 deep-well micro-plates. The turbidity of each well after incubation (35oC, 24-h) was confirmed by adding 3-μl droplets of the incubated liquid arrayed onto bile esculin agars plus 100-ppm nalidixic-acid. The final MPN values of each treatment were determined by an online MPN-calculator followed by statistical analysis. We found that SaniDate-5.0 concentrations 0.25 and 0.50% prevented cross contamination in tomatoes after a triple wash consisting of water dip + water dip + antimicrobial agent. This study provides evidence that SaniDate-5.0 is an effective antimicrobial agent that could be used by locally small produce growers in triple-wash process to improve microbial safety of locally grown tomatoes.

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