An investigation on the sterilization of berry fruit using ozone: An option to preservation and long-term storage

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, the effect of ozone treatment on the bacteria affecting fruits was investigated. The process of application of ozone for treatment was termed as OTRE technique. Ozone is a trioxygen inorganic molecule having a pungent smell and formed from the atmospheric oxygen (O2) by the action of electrical discharge. Ozone was generated adopting Ozonizer through corona discharge technology. The bacteria isolated from Kiwi fruits by microbiological technique were exposed to ozone in two approaches, firstly, the ozone discharged at various time from 10 to 60 min into the reactor vessel containing bacteria (1.5 × 108 CFU mL−1). Secondly, use of OTRE in cycle basis, where the sample was treated 30 min and 5 min break and again repeated for 10 min, which continued to the discharge of 60 min. The absorbance of all these varied intervals showed decrease in absorbance, which implies that the number of colonies were decreasing as the OTRE continued. In addition, the growth of these colonies on the nutrient agar was also confirming that the OTRE is quite effective to prevent bacteria from kiwi viz., the bacterial count was decreased from 1.5 × 108 CFU mL−1 to 2.0 × 102 CFU mL−1 in 30 min and 1.5 × 108 CFU mL−1 to 1.2 × 102 CFU mL−1 in 60 min. Thusly, OTRE technique is a rapid, better solution to preserve fruits from disease causing bacteria and enhance fruits durability against spoilage during postharvest storage.