Articles
Impact of acidic electrolyzed water treatments on fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples
Article number
1442_11
Pages
77 – 84
Language
English
Abstract
Minimally processed fruits and vegetables are one of the major growing sectors in the food industry.
Although important for their nutritional values and convenience, their composition and physicochemical properties affect their microbiological shelf life and overall quality.
Furthermore, the use of sanitizers is perceived negatively by the consumers and processing steps such as washing, if performed correctly, can only partially eliminate the microflora that naturally occurs on fresh-cut products.
Therefore, this study investigated the impact of acidic (AEW) electrolyzed water as a pre-treatment on fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples.
Minimally processed apples were treated by dipping for 10 min in AEW, packed in clamshell trays and stored at 2°C, 95% RH for 9 days.
At the end of storage, fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples treated with AEW best maintained antioxidant capacity (79.47±6.5 mg VitCE L‑1) compared to the non-treated control samples (31.94±8.1 mg GAE L‑1), respectively.
Treatments with AEW resulted in ≈2 Log reduction in total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and ≈1.2 Log reduction for yeasts and moulds in comparison to the non-treated control on day 3. A continuous decline in microbial load was observed amongst treated samples until day 9. This study therefore demonstrated the potential of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) treatments as an alternative to chlorine-based practice for fresh-cut apples.
Although important for their nutritional values and convenience, their composition and physicochemical properties affect their microbiological shelf life and overall quality.
Furthermore, the use of sanitizers is perceived negatively by the consumers and processing steps such as washing, if performed correctly, can only partially eliminate the microflora that naturally occurs on fresh-cut products.
Therefore, this study investigated the impact of acidic (AEW) electrolyzed water as a pre-treatment on fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples.
Minimally processed apples were treated by dipping for 10 min in AEW, packed in clamshell trays and stored at 2°C, 95% RH for 9 days.
At the end of storage, fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples treated with AEW best maintained antioxidant capacity (79.47±6.5 mg VitCE L‑1) compared to the non-treated control samples (31.94±8.1 mg GAE L‑1), respectively.
Treatments with AEW resulted in ≈2 Log reduction in total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and ≈1.2 Log reduction for yeasts and moulds in comparison to the non-treated control on day 3. A continuous decline in microbial load was observed amongst treated samples until day 9. This study therefore demonstrated the potential of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) treatments as an alternative to chlorine-based practice for fresh-cut apples.
Authors
N.E. Nyamende, S. Gunnar, Z.A. Belay, O.J. Caleb
Keywords
food safety, antioxidant capacity, fresh-cut apples, enzymatic browning
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