Systematic application of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) for natural microbial reduction of buckwheat sprouts

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The systematic application of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) for natural microbial reduction of buckwheat sprouts were investigated including seed-dipping, germination and sprouts-washing in the present study. The results show that all the three SAEW treatments with similar pH value (approximately 6.0) used in the study resulted in the reduction of the natural moulds and yeasts and total bacteria counts in buckwheat seeds and harvested sprouts in spite of their different available chlorine concentration (ACC, approximately 10, 28 and 92 mg/L respectively), which was equivalent or high disinfectant efficacy for buckwheat seeds and sprouts compared to NaClO solutions and acidic electrolyzed water (AEW). Moreover, SAEW treatments could control the growth of natural microbial populations during germination and decrease the E. coli O78 and L. monocytogenes counts on 8-day-old sprouts by 1.10–2.74 and 1.85–2.46 log10 CFU/g, respectively. However, too high ACC (91.96 mg/L) in SAEW had adverse effect on the sprouts length. SAEW with appropriate ACC (10–28 mg/L) could be considered in the whole process of sprouts industry because of its strong disinfection efficacy and less adverse effect on the sprouts growth than NaClO solutions and AEW.