Despite the microbiological problems (safety and spoilage)
associated with fresh-cut produce, little data exists on evaluating
the microbial quality of fresh-cut fruit available in the Portuguese
commerce. To this end, the main aim of the present work was to
study the microbiological quality of minimally-processed apples
commercialized in the south of Portugal, including the detection of
some bacterial foodborne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Cronobacter
sakazakii and L. monocytogenes). Additionally, changes in the
microbiota were studied in packages sampled prior to and after
their best-before date. Finally, another objective of this work was to
characterize the yeast population present in the fresh-cut apples
studied due to the importance of these microorganisms as spoilers
in low pH food.