Chlorination and Postharvest Disease Control

Abstract

A significant portion of harvested produce never reaches the consumer due to, postharvest diseases. Various chemicals have been used to reduce the incidence of postharvest diseases. Many of these materials have been removed from the market in recent years due to economic, environmental, or health concerns. Although somewhat limited in the range of diseases controlled, chlorination is effective when combined with proper postharvest handling practices. Additionally, it is a relatively inexpensive postharvest disease control method that poses little threat to health or the environment. The proper use of chlorination in the management of postharvest diseases in fresh fruits and vegetables is discussed.

Disinfection efficacy of slightly acidic electrolyzed water on fresh cut cabbage

“…It becomes un-ionized hypochlorous acid (HOCl) by hydrolysis, which is an extremely potent bactericidal agent (Dukan, Belkin, & Touati, 1999;Huang, Hung, Hsu, Huang, & Hwang, 2008;Okamoto et al, 2006). Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solution has a characteristic that major chlorine species is hypochlorite ion (OCl À ) when pH is high, while on the other hand, hypochlorous acid produces chlorine gas when pH is low (Boyette, Ritchie, Carballo, Blankenship, & Sanders, 1993). It has also been reported that concentration of un-ionized hypochlorous acid (HOCl) increases when pH range is from 4 to 7 (Nakagawara et al, 1998).…”

Sanitizer applicability in a laboratory model strawberry hydrocooling system

“…Although hypochlorites are the most common forms of antimicrobials used in produce wash facilities, their antimicrobial activity is dependent on the concentration of the free available chlorine (HOCl), which in turn is influenced by the pH of the solution (Boyette et al, 1993;White, 1999). Additionally, the overall efficacy of this sanitizer is dependent on the organic matter content, contact time and the initial microbial load (Boyette et al, 1993;White, 1999).…”

“…Additionally, the overall efficacy of this sanitizer is dependent on the organic matter content, contact time and the initial microbial load (Boyette et al, 1993;White, 1999). PAA-based sanitizers have a broad antimicrobial activity, tolerance to a wide range of pH conditions (Artés et al, 2007;Dell'Erba et al, 2007), and do not produce the mutagenic byproducts as with chlorine-based antimicrobials (Kitis, 2004).…”

Foodborne viruses and fresh produce

“…Therefore, for any washing system, it is important to monitor and control the level of disinfectant at all times, to ensure that it is optimal. It is also imperative to maintain chlorine disinfectants within a suitable pH range (Boyette et al . 1993).…”