Stability of slightly acidic electrolyzed water on storage and its microbial inactivation effectiveness on the aerobic microflora present on intact spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) leaves
- Publication date
- Publisher
- J. SAS
Abstract
J. SASJ, Vol. 39, No. 4 2009. 3, 259-267The stability of Slightly Acidic Electrolyzed Water (SAEW) on storage was evaluated. SAEW samples of known
initial Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP, mV), pH and available chlorine concentration (ACC, mg/L) were stored at
25β in different containers and changes of ORP, pH and ACC were monitored daily for a period of 10 days. ORP, pH and ACC were respectively maintained at 900-1000mV, 5-6.5 and 10-30mg/L. SAEW was further evaluated for its
microbial inactivation effectiveness on the aerobic microflora present on spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) expressed as
aerobic plate count (APC) and was compared to Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution. The decontamination was done by dipping spinach samples with or without a pre-washing step into treatment solution for 5min. SAEW (pH 5.5,
25mg/L ACC) achieved a significantly higher microbial reduction than NaOCl solution (pH 9.9, 103mg/L ACC).
While pre-washing of spinach in running tap water for 5min increased the microbial reduction by SAEW from 1.3 logo colony forming units (CFU)/g to more than 2 log10 CFU/g at 5min contact time, increasing exposure time did not
significantly affect its antimicrobial effectiveness on spinach aerobic microflora