(Nov. 2001) Efficacy of ozone against Escherichia coli O157:H7 on apples.

Efficacy of ozone against Escherichia coli O157:H7 on apples.

Read Full Publication...

Nov. 2001

Achen, M. and Yousef, A.E.

Journal of Food Science

v. 66. n. 9. pp. 1380-1384.

Apples were inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and treated with ozone. Sanitization treatments were more effective when ozone was bubbled during apple washing than by dipping apples in pre-ozonated water. The corresponding decreases in counts of E. coli O157:H7 during 3-min treatments were 3.7 and 2.6 log₁₀ CFU on apple surface, respectively, compared to < 1 log₁₀ CFU decrease in the stem-calyx region in both delivery methods. Optimum conditions for decontamination of whole apples with ozone included a pretreatment with a wetting agent, followed by bubbling ozone for 3 min in the wash water, which decreased the count of E. coli O157:H7 by 3.3 log₁₀CFU/g.