Effect of Hot Water, Chlorine and Ozone Microbubbles Treatment on Melon

Abstract

In this study the efficacy of traditional treatments as hot water, chlorine alone or in combination with microbubbles on melon was investigated. Different treatments were used like hot water (55 °C, 2 and 5 min); chlorine (150 ppm, 2 and 5 min); ozone microbubbles (150 ppm, 2 and 5 min); hot water microbubbles (55 °C, 2 and 5 min); chlorine microbubbles (150 ppm, 2 and 5 min). Microbial populations were evaluated at days 0 and 4 of the shelf-life. After washing, ozone microbubbles for 5 min and hot water microbubbles for 2 or 5 min were the most effective treatments causing 2.3, 2 and 1.7 log reductions, in the number of mesophilic aerobes, respectively. Throughout 4 days of shelf-life, hot water microbubbles for 2 or 5 min and ozone microbubbles for 5 min were more effective in retarding the microbial growth than the other treatments. The results showed that microbubbles could be a promising method for controlling the microbial quality of melon or other produces with the necessity of further elucidations.