The efficacy of preharvest application of electrolyzed water and chemical sanitizers against foodborne pathogen surrogates on leafy green vegetables

Preharvest control strategies, to reduce or eliminate pathogenic bacteria in leafy vegetables that may be consumed raw, provide additional food safety protection and shelf life quality extension beyond what is possible achieve with postharvest sanitation alone. The aim of this study was characterize the efficacy effect contact time electrolyzed water (e-water), 1-bromo-3-chloro-5-dimethylhydantoin (BCDMH), peracetic acid (PAA) at 80 150 ppm against pathogen surrogates Escherichia coli M23 (E. M23)and Listeria innocua ATCC 33090 (L. innocua), a representative spoilage microorganism Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens) on green (LGV) mizuna, rocket (arugula), red chard. Each has distinctly different leaf architectures could alter effectiveness preharvest treatments. e-Water, BCDMH PAA were equally effective inactivating plant total viable count, E. M23, L. P. (reduction compared control—0.5–4.0 log CFU/g). On average an 0.8 (0.4–1.1) CFU/g inactivation obtained by increasing sanitizer from 30 min 2 h, whereas concentrations produced, maximum, extra 0.5 inactivation. These findings suggest e-water, BCDMH, are all useful for in-field application wide range plants rather than concentration improves efficacy.