Effect of the irrigation regime on the susceptibility of pepper and tomato to post-harvest proliferation of Salmonella enterica

Marvasi, Massimiliano; George, Andrée S.; Giurcanu, Mihai; Hochmuth, George; Noel, Jason T.; Teplitski, Max

doi:10.1016/j.fm.2014.07.014

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous field studies revealed the effects of tomato cultivar, maturity, and various agronomical practices on the contamination of Salmonella on tomatoes, while in most of these researches, Salmonella infection was performed in the laboratory post-harvest ( Xia et al, 2012 ; Han and Micallef, 2014 ; Marvasi et al, 2014 , 2015 ; Devleesschauwer et al, 2017 ). In this study, irrigation pond water at ESAREC and fresh PL collected from local broiler farms were both found to be naturally contaminated with Salmonella .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Practices Influence Salmonella Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production

Strawn

Oryang

et al. 2018

Front. Microbiol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Between 2000 and 2010 the Eastern Shore of Virginia was implicated in four Salmonella outbreaks associated with tomato. Therefore, a multi-year study (2012–2015) was performed to investigate presumptive factors associated with the contamination of Salmonella within tomato fields at Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Factors including irrigation water sources (pond and well), type of soil amendment: fresh poultry litter (PL), PL ash, and a conventional fertilizer (triple superphosphate – TSP), and production practices: staked with plastic mulch (SP), staked without plastic mulch (SW), and non-staked without plastic mulch (NW), were evaluated by split-plot or complete-block design. All field experiments relied on naturally occurring Salmonella contamination, except one follow up experiment (worst-case scenario) which examined the potential for contamination in tomato fruits when Salmonella was applied through drip irrigation. Samples were collected from pond and well water; PL, PL ash, and TSP; and the rhizosphere, leaves, and fruits of tomato plants. Salmonella was quantified using a most probable number method and contamination ratios were calculated for each treatment. Salmonella serovar was determined by molecular serotyping. Salmonella populations varied significantly by year; however, similar trends were evident each year. Findings showed use of untreated pond water and raw PL amendment increased the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots. Salmonella Newport and Typhimurium were the most frequently detected serovars in pond water and PL amendment samples, respectively. Interestingly, while these factors increased the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots (rhizosphere and leaves), all tomato fruits sampled (n = 4800) from these plots were Salmonella negative. Contamination of tomato fruits was extremely low (< 1%) even when tomato plots were artificially inoculated with an attenuated Salmonella Newport strain (104 CFU/mL). Furthermore, Salmonella was not detected in tomato plots irrigated using well water and amended with PL ash or TSP. Production practices also influenced the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots. Salmonella detection was higher in tomato leaf samples for NW plots, compared to SP and SW plots. This study provides evidence that attention to agricultural inputs and production practices may help reduce the likelihood of Salmonella contamination in tomato fields.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Practices Influence Salmonella Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production

Strawn

Oryang

et al. 2018

Front. Microbiol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Sprouts were mostly contaminated with Salmonella, whereas tomatoes were found to be susceptible to both Salmonella and norovirus. Red peppers and tomatoes were more susceptible to Salmonella contamination than were green crops (77). Both tomatoes and leafy greens, such as parsley and lettuce, were susceptible to Salmonella and E. coli.…”

Section: Pathogenic Microorganisms Related To Fresh Produce and Irrigation Watermentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Nevertheless, even though another study did not show a clear link between the type of irrigation system and contamination with bacterial pathogens (88), there may be other factors that influence the irrigation regime and pathogen contamination. For example, Marvasi et al (77) found that the irrigation regime-dependent differences were dependent upon the season and the weather.…”

Section: Microbiological Reduction Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological Reduction Strategies of Irrigation Water for Fresh Produce

Banach

Fels‐Klerx

2020

Journal of Food Protection

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Irrigation water can be a source of pathogenic contamination of fresh produce. Controlling the quality of the water used during primary production is important to ensure food safety and protect human health. Several measures to control the microbiological quality of irrigation water are available for growers, including preventative and mitigation strategies. However, clear guidance for growers on which strategies could be used to reduce microbiological contamination is needed. This study evaluates pathogenic microorganisms of concern in fresh produce and water, the microbiological criteria of water intended for agricultural purposes, and the preventative and mitigative microbial reduction strategies. This article provides suggestions for control measures that growers can take during primary production to reduce foodborne pathogenic contamination coming from irrigation water. Results show that controlling the water source, regime, and timing of irrigation may help to reduce the potential exposure of fresh produce to contamination. Moreover, mitigation strategies like electrolysis, ozone, UV, and photocatalysts hold promise either as a single treatment, with pretreatments that remove suspended material, or as combined treatments with another chemical or physical treatment(s). Based on the literature data, a decision tree was developed for growers, which describes preventative and mitigation strategies for irrigation-water disinfection based on the fecal coliform load of the irrigation water and the water turbidity. It helps guide growers when trying to evaluate possible control measures given the quality of the irrigation water available. Overall, the strategies available to control irrigation water used for fresh produce should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis because one strategy or technology does not apply to all scenarios. HIGHLIGHTS

show abstract

“…Furthermore, it would be interesting to couple the characterization of the methylome with a transcriptomic analysis: this approach would allow a more comprehensive genome-wide overview of the bacterial adaptation to the fruit tissues. Previous research has shown that Salmonella replicates differently in relation to the ripening stage (i.e., green, partially ripe, or ripe) [ 33 , 34 ]. This different stage-dependent behavior should also be analyzed in the case of E. coli to better understand to what extent each ripening stage affects E. coli methylome and gene expression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of Commensal Escherichia coli in Tomato Fruits: Motility, Stress, Virulence

Vassallo

Amoriello

Guri

et al. 2023

Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food contamination can be a serious concern for public health because it can be related to the severe spreading of pathogens. This is a main issue, especially in the case of fresh fruits and vegetables; indeed, they have often been associated with gastrointestinal outbreak events, due to contamination with pathogenic bacteria. However, little is known about the physiological adaptation and bacterial response to stresses encountered in the host plant. Thus, this work aimed to investigate the adaptation of a commensal E. coli strain while growing in tomato pericarp. Pre-adapted and non-adapted cells were compared and used to contaminate tomatoes, demonstrating that pre-adaptation boosted cell proliferation. DNA extracted from pre-adapted and non-adapted cells was sequenced, and their methylation profiles were compared. Hence, genes involved in cell adhesion and resistance against toxic compounds were identified as genes involved in adaptation, and their expression was compared in these two experimental conditions. Finally, pre-adapted and non-adapted E. coli were tested for their ability to resist the presence of toxic compounds, demonstrating that adaptation exerted a protective effect. In conclusion, this work provides new information about the physiological adaptation of bacteria colonizing the tomato fruit pericarp.

show abstract

Effect of the irrigation regime on the susceptibility of pepper and tomato to post-harvest proliferation of Salmonella enterica

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Agricultural Practices Influence Salmonella Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production

Agricultural Practices Influence Salmonella Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production

Microbiological Reduction Strategies of Irrigation Water for Fresh Produce

Adaptation of Commensal Escherichia coli in Tomato Fruits: Motility, Stress, Virulence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About