Overall, our results suggest that UV-C at a dose of 74 mJ/cm2 could
achieve 0.9–1.5 log reductions of Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7
on apricots. Higher doses of UV-C achieved limited additional reductions.
However, a higher dose (442 mJ/cm2
) of UV-C resulted in a
rapid decline in the populations of the two human pathogens on apricots
during post-UV storage at 2 or 20 °C.
Acknowledgments
The study was partially funded by a grant from the Center for Produce
Safety. The authors thank Kim Sokorai, Guoping Bao, and Rebecca
Rivera for technical assistance, Dr. Gerald Sapers for reviewing the manuscript
and Double Diamond Fruit Company for providing the apricots
used in the study. We thank Drs. Cathy Webb, Michael Doyle, Robert
Mandrell for providing the bacteria used in the study.