diffusion of the antimicrobial compounds through the cell
membrane, therefore promoting microbial death.
The PL treatment also resulted in a significant initial microbial
reduction, with the residual L. innnocua population at day 0 of
5.0 Log CFU/g. However, over the storage time a statistically
significant increase in population was recorded, of about 1 Log
cycle. The results suggested that the antimicrobial effect of PL
treatment was not prolonged over time, as previously observed in
the case of UV-C treatment (Severino et al., 2014b).
In particular, the PL treatment caused some damages on green
beans surface, highlighted by the appearance of brown spots,
which probably offered a preferential location for microbial
growth.