Slightly acidic electrolyzed water combination with antioxidants and fumaric acid treatment to maintain the quality of fresh-cut bell peppers

Abstract

This work evaluated the effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW), fumaric acid (FA) and antioxidant solution treatments on the quality of red and yellow fresh-cut bell pepper (FCBP) challenged with foodborne pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella sp.). The quality of the FCBP was determined in terms of the microbial contamination, and sensory properties. The sanitizer treatment such as (T1-T6) significantly inhibited the microbial colonization comparing to the untreated control (T0) group of R-FCBP and Y-FCBP. Total bacterial count (TBC) was reduced by 4.1 and 76.8 fold for Y-FCBP and R-FCBP respectively when treated with T6 during the 15 day of storage. The treatment of T6 significantly reduced the total fungal (TF) counts by 7.9 fold for Y-FCBP and 7.7 fold for R-FCBP comparing to T0 at 15 day of interval. Also, this treatment inhibited the total Salmonella sp., (TSC) by 4.93 fold for Y-FCBP and 4.23 fold for R-FCBP when comparing to T0 at 15 day of interval. These results proved the efficiency of T6 (FA, SAEW, and antioxidant solution) treatment compared to untreated control (T0) expands the quality of FCBP up to 9 days when preserved at 4 °C through inhibiting the microbial colonization.