Fresh-cut cilantro is particularly susceptible to microbial growth and, therefore, use of an effective sanitizer
on this product is of great importance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of
different sanitizing treatments on reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 populations, aerobic mesophilic bacterial,
yeast and mould counts on fresh-cut cilantro. Cut cilantro was treated with sodium hypochlorite
(SH) at 0.2 g L1 free chlorine and acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) at 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 g L1
, along with
the components of ASC, i.e., citric acid (CA) at 6 g L1 and sodium chlorite (SC) at 1 g L1
. In the present
study, it was found that SH inactivated, at maximum, 1–1.3 logcfu g1 of background or pathogenic
microflora present on cut cilantro. However, reductions of more than 3 logcfu g1 were observed after
washing with 1 g L1 of ASC. Moreover, when lower concentrations of ASC were used (0.25 and
0.5 g L1
), microbial populations were reduced by about 2 logcfu g1
. SC was as effective as ASC at
1gL1 in reducing aerobic mesophilic bacteria and E. coli O157:H7 populations, although it was not as
effective as ASC in reducing yeast and mould populations.
2008 El