The efficacy of UV-C light in inactivating Salmonella on green
tomatoes was evaluated
Salmonella populations inoculated on tomatoes
significantly decreased (p < 0.05) by 3.22 logs after UV
treatment for 30 s (22.3 mJ/cm2).
A maximum reduction of 4.39 log
CFU/tomatowas obtained when inoculated tomatoes were exposed
for 240 s, a UV dose of 178.5 mJ/cm2
Thirty seconds and
sixty seconds of exposure were not significantly different from each
other. After 90 s of exposure, there was no further significant
reduction. No Salmonella was detected from the negative controls,
indicating the reductions noted were those of the challenge inoculum.