Abstract
Salmonella has been a recurring issue in the papaya industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of post-harvest storage conditions on the growth kinetics of Salmonella in fresh-cut papaya. Papaya samples were spot inoculated with nalidixic acid adopted Salmonella spp (4-strain) at 4–5 log CFU/g and then stored in an environmental chamber at six different temperature (4, 12 and 21 °C) and relative humidity (55 and 90%) combinations for up to 14 days. The levels of Salmonella and the changes in pH, TSS, color, and water activity of papaya were determined. Increasing the storage temperature from 4 to 21 °C and RH from 55 to 90% increased the log survival. However, no significant effect (P > 0.05) of RH was observed when the samples were stored either at 12 or 4 °C for 14 days. Both Baryani-Roberts (R20.794–0.975) and Biphasic models (0.793–0.975) best fitted the experimental data at the tested storage conditions. Salmonella showed a maximum growth rate ranging from −0.0207 to 0.0632 (1/h) and the highest growth rate was observed at 21 °C and 90% RH. These findings demonstrate that better control over storage temperature and RH is critical to mitigate the risk of Salmonella in papaya.
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