Fresh Parsley Research Articles

Investigation of the low-temperature exposure effect on the water activity of food products

Introduction: The activity of water is an integral characteristic of the moisture condition in a product, by which one can assess the correctness of various technological processes, as well as predict the shelf life of the product. Existing studies on the activity of water in food products were conducted mostly for the positive temperature range. Little attention was paid to the study of the effects of low-temperature exposure on water activity.Purpose: The article is devoted to the study of water activity in food products at various temperatures. Such an approach will allow predicting the shelf life of food products and optimizing the development of methods for controlling the functional and technological characteristics of food raw materials.Materials and Methods: The objects of research were: beef chilled according to GOST R 52427-2005, chilled pork, chilled mutton, fresh cucumbers, fresh carrots, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley greens, dill greens, green onion greens. Two installations were used to analyze the water activity in the research objects: designed at the Kuzbass State Agricultural Academy, and the LabSwift-aw water activity analyzer. Experiments were conducted for fresh, chilled, and frozen products at various temperatures.Results: A design of a homemade installation that can be used to measure water activity is presented. The accuracy of this installation's measurements is experimentally proven. An analysis of water activity in fresh, chilled, and frozen products has been conducted. The water activity of fresh products was within the range of 0.954-0.995. It was found that with the same moisture content, the water activity can vary slightly, which is due to the difference in the chemical composition of the product and the salt content. It was established that chilling products from 22 to 6°C leads to a decrease in water activity by an average of 2%. Freezing to a temperature of -5°C results in a further reduction of water activity by an average of 0.03 units. Lowering the freezing temperature from -5°C to -10°C, -20°C, -30°C, and -40°C results in a reduction of water activity by an average of 0.04, 0.07, 0.06, and 0.05 units, respectively. Based on experimental data, mathematical dependencies of water activity on the freezing temperature for all studied products were derived.Conclusion: Water activity has important theoretical and practical significance, and the results of the research can be useful in predicting the shelf life of food products and developing methods to control the functional and technological characteristics of food raw materials.

The method of direct determination of manganese in fresh parsley leaves and roots using capillary electrophoresis method.

This is the first work presenting a simple, rapid and sensitive method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the direct determination of manganese (II) in fresh parsley leaves and roots. The developed method has been optimized and validated. Optimum separation of Mn2+, by measuring at 214 nm, was obtained on a 30 cm × 75 μm capillary using a 50 mM phosphate running buffer (pH 3.0), capillary temperature 25°C, voltage 10 kV, and hydrodynamic injection. Good results were obtained for different aspects including stability of the solutions, linearity, and precision. Detection and quantification limits for Mn2+ were reached at the level of 0.97 and 2.94 μg/mL respectively. The sample preparation procedure is very simple and not time consuming. This method has been successfully used to the measuring concentration of Mn2+ in order to determine the content of this ion in parsley leaves and roots. The speed of obtaining the result of the analysis was only 3 minutes.

The study of herbs extracts composition in the drying process

Medicinal and flavoring herbs are widely used in herbal medicine. Various methods are used to study plants, evaluate the efficiency of extraction of biologically active target components. The process control is carried out by chromatographic, spectral methods. The search for new fast, affordable, simple methods of analysis is currently relevant. The dry droplet weighing method of the extract was proposed as an alternative to the known methods. The analysis of flavoring herb parsley extracts by four methods (spectrophotometry, refractometry, thin layer chromatography and direct dry drop weighing) was carried out. The objects of study were fresh protected ground parsley and the Indana brand dried parsley. Fresh parsley was dried and the change in the chemical composition of water-alcohol extracts was monitored for 16 days. Compounds in the extracts were identified by differential spectra. It was found out that the amount of substances extracted from the flavoring herb was greater than in the dry sample after 12 days of drying. The composition of the mobile phase for thin layer fast chromatography was selected. The best separation of chlorophylls from related substances occurs at a volume ratio of toluene and ethyl alcohol of 5:5 and 6:4. The sensitivity of the refractometry method does not allow determining the difference in the composition of fresh parsley extracts. Using the method of direct piezoquartz microweighing, it was proved that with an increase in the drying time of parsley, the number of compounds in a dry drop of the extract increases. The most sensitive method i.e. piezoquartz microweighing, the MCNano-WPQ-8 device can be used in non-laboratory conditions for express monitoring of plant materials drying in small manufactures. it is simpler, cheaper, more compact and more sensitive than other devices. The device and approach were tested on various types of phyto raw materials.

Использование пряного растительного сырья в технологии заварного полуфабриката

Introduction. Semi-finished choux dough has neither vitamins nor minerals. However, its nutritional value can be increased by adding vegetable raw materials. The research objective was to evaluate the possibilities of using spicy vegetable raw materials in the formulation of semi-finished choux dough.
 Study objects and methods. The study featured fresh parsley (Petroselinum crispum), basil (Ocimum), celery (Apium) leaves and stems, and IR-dried powder of celery stalks. Standard research methods were used to determine the sensory, physico-chemical, and nutritional properties of the resulting choux samples.
 Results and discussion. Classical semi-finished choux dough with craquelin served as control sample. Fresh spicy vegetable raw materials degraded the sensory characteristics of the product. However, powdered celery stalks did not interfere with the taste of the choux dough. They were added in the amount of 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5% by weight of wheat flour. The celery powder gave the dough a sour-spicy flavor, as well as increased the content of vitamins B (up to 10%) and beta-carotene (up to 70%) in the finished product.
 Conclusion. The sample with 5% of IR-dried celery powder proved optimal for choux dough. It increased the content of vitamin B2 and beta-carotene, thus improving the nutritional value of the semi-finished product. In future, the powder can be tested as part of bakery filling in combination with ingredients that mask the typical celery taste.

An Ascorbate Bluetooth© Analyzer for Quality Control of Fresh-Cut Parsley Supply Chain.

This work provides companies in the fresh-cut produce sector with an Ascorbate Bluetooth© Analyzer (ABA), a screen-printed sensor-based device for ascorbic acid (AA) detection, for quality control all along the supply chain. The amperometric detection of AA on fresh and fresh-cut parsley, under correct and incorrect storage temperature, allowed us to investigate the kinetics of AA decay in response to oxidative stress. The role of ascorbate oxidase (AOx) and ascorbate peroxidase (APx) was studied. ABA was used in situ by unskilled personnel. Treatments influenced AA decay kinetics, which were linear in fresh parsley, and non-linear in fresh-cut. Two hours at 28 °C immediately after chopping, the resilience of the fresh-cut parsley was reduced, even though the cold chain was restored. Two hours at −2 °C caused a rapid loss of AA until its complete decay after 72 h. Significant differences between treatments were observed in both the expression and activity of AOx and APx. ABA registered sudden changes of parsley AA following unpredicted variations of temperature during processing or transport. It was useful to remedy the effects of unexpected flaws in the cold chain, which can be proposed for quality preservation of different fresh-cut produce.

Effects of ozone and chlorine washes and subsequent cold storage on microbiological quality and shelf life of fresh parsley leaves

In this study, we evaluated the effects of ozone and chlorine washes on the inactivation of Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua and on color pigments and antioxidant compounds of fresh parsley leaves. The growth of the microorganisms and the changes in pigments and antioxidant compounds of the leaves during subsequent cold storage for 15 days were also investigated. The microbial reductions obtained with ozone treatments were approximately 1 log higher than those obtained with distilled water. Chlorine was more effective against E. coli than ozone (3.2 and 2.2 log reductions, respectively) however reductions in L. innocua counts obtained with chlorine and ozone were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Washing treatments tested in this study did not have any detrimental effect on the pigments and antioxidant compounds of parsley leaves. However, these characteristics showed descending trends during subsequent cold storage. Decreases reached up to 45, 39, 88, 33 and 35% in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, ascorbic acid and total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity, respectively, at the end of storage. We determined that E. coli counts steadily decreased, however, L. innocua counts were quite stable during storage which can pose a serious food safety risk associated with parsley.

Comparative analysis on optical and photocatalytic properties of chlorophyll/curcumin-sensitized $$\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$$ nanoparticles for phenol degradation

In this work, natural-dye-sensitized photocatalysts (NDSPs) of $$\hbox {TiO}_{{2}}$$ were prepared by a simple wetness impregnation method, in which natural pigments of chlorophyll and curcumin were initially extracted from fresh parsley leaves and long roots of dried turmeric, respectively. The as-prepared NDSPs were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopy. XRD and SEM studies verified intact structural and morphological properties for NDSPs of $$\hbox {TiO}_{{2}}$$ compared to non-sensitized nanostructures, while FT-IR and DRS analyses confirmed the presence of dye pigments on the surface of $$\hbox {TiO}_{{2}}$$ photocatalysts after the photosensitization process. A red-shift towards longer wavelengths was observed in band-gap energies of dye-sensitized samples. These NDSPs indicated efficient photocatalytic performances towards decomposing phenol in visible light irradiation. Phenol degradation experiments are systematically conducted to optimize four key operating parameters, including irradiation time, initial pH of the reaction mixture, dye-sensitized $$\hbox {TiO}_{2}$$ dosage and initial phenol concentration. Dye-sensitization using chlorophyll pigments results in the highest phenol degradation rate (85%) compared with that of samples sensitized with curcumin pigments (75%), which is perfectly in agreement with the corresponding band-gap energies. Photodegradation processes were modelled by the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics, while the adsorption equilibrium was investigated based on Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Lastly, possible mechanisms involved in the process of phenol photodecomposition were proposed.

Efficacy of Soil-Applied Insecticides Against Carrot Weevil in Fresh Parsley, 2017

Efficacy of Soil-Applied Insecticides Against Carrot Weevil in Fresh Parsley, 2017

Ecolab Inc, USA

In this study, we evaluated the effects of ozone and chlorine washes on the inactivation of Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua and on color pigments and antioxidant compounds of fresh parsley leaves. The growth of the microorganisms and the changes in pigments and antioxidant compounds of the leaves during subsequent cold storage for 15 days were also investigated. The microbial reductions obtained with ozone treatments were approximately 1 log higher than those obtained with distilled water. Chlorine was more effective against E. coli than ozone (3.2 and 2.2 log reductions, respectively) however reductions in L. innocua counts obtained with chlorine and ozone were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Washing treatments tested in this study did not have any detrimental effect on the pigments and antioxidant compounds of parsley leaves. However, these characteristics showed descending trends during subsequent cold storage. Decreases reached up to 45, 39, 88, 33 and 35% in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, ascorbic acid and total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity, respectively, at the end of storage. We determined that E. coli counts steadily decreased, however, L. innocua counts were quite stable during storage which can pose a serious food safety risk associated with parsley.

Functional properties of parsley fortified homemade Turkish noodles (Erişte)

Turkish noodle is a staple traditional dish in the Turkish cuisine and generally made out of wheat flour, egg, salt and vegetable oil. The aims of this study were to improve the formulation of Turkish noodles by the addition of minced parsley (2, 4, 6 and 8% weight), to improve their functional properties and swelling volume, to determine the effect on the physical properties (moisture content, water activity, and colour) and chemical composition (vitamin C, total chlorophyll, total carotenoid, and protein content) of the homemade plain and fortified Turkish noddle dough (FHTD) and the fortified homemade Turkish noodles (FHTN), to determine the traditional and microwave cooking characteristics and to indicate consumer preferences of FHTN with fresh parsley. The results showed that the amount of addition of fresh parsley caused a significant increase in the moisture content values of FHTD (31.59-36.08%) (P<0.05). The vitamin C, total chlorophyll and total carotenoid contents of the FHTD and FHTN were improved with the addition of fresh parsley. The traditionally cooked FHTN have got higher water absorption (30.25-38.90g) and swelling volume values (237.50-267.50%) than microwave cooked FHTN (WA=29.03–34.77g, SV=240.00-265.00%) (P<0.05). The noodles containing 2% parsley had the highest rating compared to both plain and other samples.

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Some Fresh and Canned Aromatic Herbs

The chlorophylls, carotenoids, total polyphenols contents and antioxidant activity in fresh and stored Parsley, celery and dill leaves were comparatively determined by spectrophotometric and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. Results indicated that freezing does not induce significant changes in chlorophyll concentration. Drying induces significant decreases, varying according to the analyzed plant; parsley (60%), followed by dill (56.4%) and celery (45.3%). The carotenoids identified in all plants were lutein, b-carotene and cis-β-carotene. Fresh parsley leaves showed the highest total carotenoid concentration (21.64 mg/100g FW), followed by celery (15.41 mg/100g FW) and dill (14.95 mg/100g FW). Total polyphenols had an average concentration of 2.15 mg/g FW in parsley; 2.7 mg/g FW in dill and almost the double, 4.13 mg/g FW in celery. Drying of leaves induced a decrease with approximately 50% of the total polyphenol concentration, while freezing, did not significantly affect it. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the dill, followed by parsley and celery. In both types of methods (freezing and drying in the oven), decreases in antioxidant activity were observed.

Mathematical modelling of drying characteristics of medical plants in a vacuum heat pump dryer

ABSTRACTIn this study, drying behaviour of medical plants such as fresh sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves in a vacuum heat pump dryer was investigated. Drying experiments were conducted at the vacuum pressure of 0.6 bar and the drying temperatures of 36°C and 46°C. Five thin layer drying models namely the Henderson and Pabis model, Logarithmic model, Two-term model, Modified page equation model and Lewis model to estimate moisture ratio of medical plants were used. Different mathematical drying models were compared according to their root mean square error, the coefficient of determination (R2) and reduced chi-square (χ2). For sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves, the logarithmic model, the Two-term model and the Henderson and Pabis model showed better fit to the experimental data compared to other models, respectively.

A metagenomic assessment of viral contamination on fresh parsley plants irrigated with fecally tainted river water

Microbial food-borne diseases are still frequently reported despite the implementation of microbial quality legislation to improve food safety. Among all the microbial agents, viruses are the most important causative agents of food-borne outbreaks. The development and application of a new generation of sequencing techniques to test for viral contaminants in fresh produce is an unexplored field that allows for the study of the viral populations that might be transmitted by the fecal-oral route through the consumption of contaminated food. To advance this promising field, parsley was planted and grown under controlled conditions and irrigated using contaminated river water. Viruses polluting the irrigation water and the parsley leaves were studied by using metagenomics. To address possible contamination due to sample manipulation, library preparation, and other sources, parsley plants irrigated with nutritive solution were used as a negative control. In parallel, viruses present in the river water used for plant irrigation were analyzed using the same methodology. It was possible to assign viral taxons from 2.4 to 74.88% of the total reads sequenced depending on the sample. Most of the viral reads detected in the river water were related to the plant viral families Tymoviridae (66.13%) and Virgaviridae (14.45%) and the phage viral families Myoviridae (5.70%), Siphoviridae (5.06%), and Microviridae (2.89%). Less than 1% of the viral reads were related to viral families that infect humans, including members of the Adenoviridae, Reoviridae, Picornaviridae and Astroviridae families. On the surface of the parsley plants, most of the viral reads that were detected were assigned to the Dicistroviridae family (41.52%). Sequences related to important viral pathogens, such as the hepatitis E virus, several picornaviruses from species A and B as well as human sapoviruses and GIV noroviruses were detected. The high diversity of viral sequences found in the parsley plants suggests that irrigation on fecally-tainted food may have a role in the transmission of a wide diversity of viral families. This finding reinforces the idea that the best way to avoid food-borne viral diseases is to introduce good field irrigation and production practices. New strains have been identified that are related to the Picornaviridae and distantly related to the Hepeviridae family. However, the detection of a viral genome alone does not necessarily indicate there is a risk of infection or disease development. Thus, further investigation is crucial for correlating the detection of viral metagenomes in samples with the risk of infection. There is also an urgent need to develop new methods to improve the sensitivity of current Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques in the food safety area.

Identification and Quantitation of Furocoumarins in Popularly Consumed Foods in the U.S. Using QuEChERS Extraction Coupled with UPLC-MS/MS Analysis.

Furocoumarins are a class of photoactive compounds found in several plant species and may be responsible for the observed association between consumption of citrus products and the risk of skin cancer. Furocoumarin contents of several foods have been reported previously, but no comprehensive database of furocoumarin content of foods is currently available. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the distribution of furocoumarins in popularly consumed foods in the U.S. Samples of three varieties of each of 29 foods known or suspected to contain furocoumarins were purchased, prepared for analysis using a solid phase extraction method, and analyzed using UPLC-MS/MS for the presence of seven major furocoumarins. Most foods measured contained more than one furocoumarin, and some contained all seven of the furocoumarins examined. Total furocoumarin concentration was greatest in fresh parsley (23215 ng/g), grapefruits (21858 ng/g), lime juice (14580 ng/g), grapefruit juice (95341 ng/g), and limes (9151 ng/g). Bergamottin was found in the greatest proportion of foods sampled (23 of 29), followed by bergapten (19 of 29) and 6'7'-dihydroxybergamottin (16 of 29). These measurements will enable more accurate estimation of dietary furocoumarin exposure and will strengthen future epidemiological work investigating the relationships between furocoumarin intake and health outcomes.

Gene expression programming approach for the estimation of moisture ratio in herbal plants drying with vacuum heat pump dryer

The determination of drying behavior of herbal plants is a complex process. In this study, gene expression programming (GEP) model was used to determine drying behavior of herbal plants as fresh sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves. Time and drying temperatures are input parameters for the estimation of moisture ratio of herbal plants. The results of the GEP model are compared with experimental drying data. The statistical values as mean absolute percentage error, root-mean-squared error and R-square are used to calculate the difference between values predicted by the GEP model and the values actually observed from the experimental study. It was found that the results of the GEP model and experimental study are in moderately well agreement. The results have shown that the GEP model can be considered as an efficient modelling technique for the prediction of moisture ratio of herbal plants.

The transfer rate of Salmonella Typhimurium from contaminated parsley to other consecutively chopped batches via cutting boards under different food handling scenarios

In many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries, leafy green parsley is typically eaten raw and prepared by fine chopping several batches. This study aimed to quantify the transfer rate of S. Typhimurium (Tr) across all chopped batches in scenarios that resemble normally occurring operations in restaurants and home kitchens. Fresh parsley leaves were inoculated at concentrations of 6 and 3logCFU/g and chopped on a polyethylene cutting board (CB). Uninoculated parsleys were sequentially chopped in individual batches on the same cutting surface, 1) instantly (CB Instant), 2) after washing in water and holding at 30°C 24h (CBWW), 3) after washing in soapy water, sponge scrubbing and holding at 30°C 24h (CB SW). Using the high inoculum levels, the mean Tr was 0.012±0.04, 0.014±0.02 and 0.010±0.008, via CB Instant, WW and SW, respectively. Comparatively, the Tr mean values were significantly higher with the low inoculum levels, 0.60±0.65 and 0.64±0.46, via CB Instant and CB WW respectively, and transmissions of S. Typhimurium significantly decreased across consecutively chopped batches on both washed CBs (P<0.05). These results demonstrated continuous transfer of Salmonella cells, from contaminated parsley to cutting boards and subsequently re-contaminating up to 6 batches of parsley chopped consecutively on the same surface. A greater cross-contamination rate was recorded during the initial phases of chopping and remained at 24h at 30°C. Vigilant cleaning and sanitation procedures on cutting surfaces should be a fundamental requirement after use with fresh produce, particularly if there is a likelihood of insufficient food safety measures at harvest and post-harvest stages.

Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) drinking preferences: do nipple drinkers compensate for behaviourally deficient diets?

When offered diets with hay adlibitum, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) clearly prefer open dishes over nipple drinkers, but whether this preference also applies in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) is unsure. We tested the drinker preference of 10 guinea pigs when offered open dishes (OD) and nipple drinkers (ND) simultaneously and measured the amount of water consumed by each animal on four different diets (grass hay 100%, or as 10% of intake on diets of fresh parsley, seed mix or pelleted complete feed, respectively) on either of the drinking systems. All animals ingested the hay portion of the combined diets first. The amount of water consumed differed significantly between individual animals. Animals drank less water on parsley than on the other diets. Nine of 10 animals clearly preferred ND when having a choice, and eight of these drank more when on ND only. The difference between the drinking systems was not consistent across all diets: on hay, similar amounts of water were drunk when on OD or ND only. Differences in water intake were reflected in urine production. Because drinking from ND in guinea pigs involves jaw movements similar to those in chewing, the results could suggest that when motivation for oral processing behaviour is not satisfied by a diet, animals may respond in using ND beyond physiological water necessity. Whereas physiological water requirements are probably better investigated with other drinking systems due to a possible overestimation when using ND, offering ND to pet guinea pigs most likely offers a form of behavioural enrichment that at the same time may increase water intake and hence act as prophylaxis against urolithiasis.

Development of a convenience and safety chilled sous vide fish dish: Diversification of aquacultural products.

The dynamic expansion of the ready-to-eat seabream sector in its adaptation to new lifestyles has led to the search for new presentation formats in seabream (Sparus aurata). Green sauce (olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, fresh parsley, black pepper, basil and salt) and 60 ℃ of cooking temperature were chosen by the panellists for the sous vide cooking process. Seabream fillet and sauce were packaged in polypropylene trays, cooked, chilled and stored at 2 ℃. Microbiological (total viable counts,Enterobacteriaceae,lactic acid bacteria, anaerobic psychrotrophic, moulds and yeasts, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes), chemical (pH and TBARs) and sensory parameters were determined at 0, 7, 17, 34, 48 and 62 days. In the conditions used, the microbiological counts remained stable, and Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes were absent. The acidic sauce had a positive effect on the pH of the product, and low TBARs were obtained throughout storage. The processing conditions used in the present study allowed a chilled ready-to-eat seabream product of consistently high quality up to 62 days of storage to be obtained, representing an expansion of the products offered by the aquacultural industry.

Nematicidal activity of furanocoumarins from parsley against Meloidogyne spp.

This report describes activity against Meloidogyne spp. and chemical characterisation of the essential oil and methanol extract of Petroselinum crispum aerial parts. The study was based on the hypothesis that P. crispum could be used as an intercrop and soil amendment in tomato culture for nematode control. The methanol extract and the essential oil exhibited significant nematicidal activity against M. incognita, M. hapla and M. arenaria, the first being the most sensitive species, with EC50 /72 h values of 140 ± 15 and 795 ± 125 mg L(-1) for the extract and oil respectively. The most abundant furanocoumarin compounds in the methanolic extract were xanthotoxin, psoralen, bergapten and oxypeucedanin; levels ranged from 1.77 to 46.04 mg kg(-1) wet weight. The EC50 /24 h values of xanthotoxol, psoralen and xanthotoxin against M. incognita were 68 ± 33, 147 ± 88 and 200 ± 21 mg L(-1) respectively. The addition of fresh parsley paste to soil reduced the number of M. incognita females and plant galls on tomato roots; EC50 values were 24.79 and 28.07 mg g(-1) respectively. Moreover, parsley paste enhanced tomato growth in a dose-response manner. Parsley exhibits promising nematicidal activity as an organic amendment and as a source of nematotoxic furanocoumarins.

A Novel Method for Fresh-Cut Decontamination: Efficiency of Vaporized Ethyl Pyruvate in Reducing S taphylococcus aureus and E scherichia coli O157:H7 from Fresh Parsley

Vaporized ethyl pyruvate (EP) was evaluated for its efficiency for decontamination of parsley from Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus. Inoculated parsleys (∼104 or ∼106 cfu/g) were treated with 0 (control sample), 100, 400 and 1,000 μL of vaporized EP in 2.6-L closed-lid food containers. Samples were evaluated for bacterial growth and visual acceptance during treatment. In the case of decontamination of E. coli O157:H7, 1,000 μL EP treatments completely inhibited the bacterial population and enabled 100% growth inhibition levels (GILs) in both inoculum levels. In low inoculation of S. aureus, the difference between the counts of the control and 1,000 μL EP-treated samples was higher than 2 logs after the storage. In high inoculum, 400 or 1,000 μL EP-treated parsleys had significantly (P < 0.05) lower S. aureus populations as compared with the control sample. EP treatment retarded parsley decay; however, it caused some yellowness on the parsley leaves. Practical Applications Safety of minimally processed fruits and vegetables is of great concern worldwide as no decontamination treatment is included in their processing. Different methods such as washing with chemical sanitizers, pulsed ultraviolet light, high pressure and ionized radiation have been tested for decontamination of fresh products. In general, these methods achieve less than a 2-log reduction and negatively affect organoleptical properties of the products. Surface structure of the product also influences the effectiveness of surface decontamination processes as pathogens may penetrate into protected sites within plant tissue. Vaporized ethyl pyruvate (EP) has potential to remove these disadvantages because of its volatility which enables it to reach the pathogens that are hidden within plant structures. In this study, EP was effective against both Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus on fresh parsley. As a conclusion, EP was confirmed as an effective agent for decontamination of parsleys and as a successful alternative for other decontamination methods.