Purpose: Lovit, a sanitizer that consists of short chain organic acids generally regarded as safe (GRAS) in combination with nisin + ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was developed and used to investigate the survival and inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes bacteria on produce surfaces (cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew).
Methods: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were inoculated on cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew rind surfaces at 4.2 ± 0.21, 4.8 ± 0.14 and 3.9 ± 0.17 log CFU/cm2, respectively. Inoculated produce were washed with water, hydrogen peroxide (3 %), chlorine (200 ppm) and Lovit solutions for 5 min. Bacterial populations that survived treatments and transferred to fresh-cut pieces were estimated using selective agar media.
Results: The Lovit treatment led to viability loss of 3.5 log for three pathogens tested on cantaloupe and a loss of 2.8 log on watermelon and honeydew rind surfaces, compared to 2.2 log reduction by hydrogen peroxide and chlorine. In fresh-cut cantaloupe pieces prepared from Lovit treated melons, the populations of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes bacteria were below detection (< 1 CFU/g) and honeydew and watermelon fresh-cut pieces were negative for these pathogens by enrichment. An average of 0.74 ± 0.12 log CFU/g of all three pathogens were recovered from fresh-cut pieces prepared from chlorine and peroxide treated whole melons.
Significance: Treating whole melon surfaces with Lovit solution before fresh-cut preparation will improve the microbial safety and quality of the prepared fresh-cut pieces, and will drastically reduce the incidence of foodborne illness and costly recalls of contaminated produce.