YM, TBC and inoculated pathogens were approximately 5.50, 6.40
and 6 log cfu/g, respectively. The addition of water wash following
SAEW dipping (treatment group 3; SAEWeWW) always slightly
enhanced the microbial reductions compared to SAEW treatment
alone (treatment group 2; SAEW). Simultaneous ultrasonication of
the produce during SAEW dip treatment (treatment group 4;
SAEW þ US) resulted in higher antimicrobial effect compared to
SAEW treatment alone. Although interestingly, it negligibly
decreased the reduction of YM for 0.22 log cfu/g compared with
SAEW treatment alone. Similar reductions were also observed in a
few of treatment groups on other samples. Except for the decrease
in microbial reduction resulted from the addition of ultrasonication
to SAEW alone treatment, our results were in comparison with the
previous reports suggesting a variety of effects from combination of
sanitizers with ultrasonication.