Generation of trihalomethanes with chlorine-based sanitizers and impact on microbial, nutritional and sensory quality of baby spinach

The efficacy of different postharvest treatments on physico-chemical characteristics, bioactive components and microbiological quality of fresh blueberries during storage period

“…Thus, it is environmentally friendly and not potentially dangerous for human health (Huang et al, 2008). The efficacy of EW in reducing microorganism as well as the main foodborne pathogens associated with fresh-cut fruit and vegetables has been reported (Hung et al, 2010;Rahman et al, 2011;Gómez-López et al, 2013).…”

Potential of Electrolyzed Water as an Alternative Disinfectant Agent in the Fresh-Cut Industry

“…On cut apple, EW was equally or more effective than HOCl in decontamination of fresh-cut apple against E. coli O157:H7, Listeria innocua, and Salmonella choleraesuis (Graça et al 2011). On the other hand, studies carried out in our groups showed that fresh-cut spinach treated with equal FC concentrations using NaOCl or EW showed similar reductions (about 1 log cfu/g) of psychrophilic populations (Gómez-López et al 2013a). …”

“…However, there are only few studies evaluating the formation of disinfection byproducts in process water when treated with EW (Table 2). Studies carried out by our group (Gómez-López et al 2013a) have evidenced that total formation of THM was similar in process water obtained from a baby spinach processing line when treated with sodium hypochlorite and EW combined with 1 % of NaCl. However, preliminary data obtained in process water obtained in the washing tank of fresh-cut iceberg lettuce showed that the formation of THM in process water containing around 1500-2000 mg/L of COD and treated with EW was 10 times higher than in process water treated with sodium hypochlorite.…”

“…Regarding the fresh-cut industry, since 1999, many reports have demonstrated the potential use of EW as a chlorine substitute for washing fresh fruits and vegetables (Izumi 1999;Koseki and Isobe 2007;Hricova et al 2008;Pangloli et al 2009;Hung et al 2010;Hung 2011, 2013a;Kim and Hung 2012;Olaimat and Holley 2012). Recent studies carried out by our group have evidenced that the use of this technology in the fresh-cut processing line could represent a good alternative to NaOCl Gómez-López et al 2013a. The best way to demonstrate the potential use of EW as a disinfection treatment for process water is determining its potential to avoid cross-contamination in the washing tank.…”

“…The THMs of concern in water disinfection are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibrochloromethane, and bromoform; the first two have been classified by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 1999a(IARC , 1999b as possibly carcinogenic to humans. Studies carried out by Gómez-López et al (2013a) to determine the potential THM formation during washing of fresh-cut leafy greens demonstrated that after 1 h of using low doses of NaOCl, as a disinfectant agent in process water with high organic matter (>500 mg O 2 /L of chemical oxygen demand, COD), the total THM values (194.0±29.6) in the process water were over the authorized limit fixed for drinking water (EU 98/83 1998;USEPA 2009).…”