Microbial quality and labeling of minimally processed fruits and vegetables

Abstract

The consumption of minimally processed, or ready-to-eat (RTE), fruits and vegetables has been growing because people have shorter time to eat and due to the pursuit of convenience and health benefits. Minimal processing includes raw material selection and sorting, pre-washing, debarking, cutting, slicing, sanitizing, rinsing, centrifuging, and packing. Thus, natural protection barriers are affected during cutting methods and they release nutrients that enable microorganism growth. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the levels of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, molds and yeasts, coliforms at 35°C, Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp., as well as the labeling adequacy of minimally processed fruits and vegetables traded in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Fruits and vegetables presented aerobic mesophilic bacteria, molds and yeasts, and coliforms at 35°C, above the safe limit for consumption purposes. The count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria in RTE fruits ranged from 4.00 to 6.30 Log CFU/g. The highest count of this microorganism group was recorded for fruit salads. Salmonella sp. was not identified in fruit or vegetable samples, whereas Escherichia coli was detected in four vegetable samples. None of the evaluated labels (n = 40) followed the Brazilian legislation. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables had poor microbiological quality and labeling was also unsatisfactory. The adoption of good manufacturing practices and quality control tools as strategies to produce safe food can help minimizing risks to consumers’ health.

Multi-criteria Decision-making Technique Approach to Assess the Microbial Quality and Safety of Fresh-cut Salads Sold at Retail in Istanbul, Turkey

“…In another study, a total of 116 samples were collected by Pingulkar (2001) to determine the microbial quality of salad samples and YM counts ranged from 2.00 to 5.00 log CFU g -1 . As for a study conducted in Brazil (Dos Santos et al, 2021) researchers found that the count of YM was between 3.40 and > 6.30 log CFU g -1 . A lower count of YM with a mean of 3.69 log CFU g -1 was observed in another study (Schuh et al, 2019) Mold growth in fresh-cut salads, in fact, is not the cause of microbial degradation in these foodstuffs.…”

Development of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) and Cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmannii) Based Food Sanitizer

“…According to Sarno et al (2021), the foodborne disease is a global issue that significantly impacts health. It is mainly caused by the consumption of foods that diseasecausing microbes or pathogens have contaminated, which are found in fresh fruits and vegetables, including Gram-positive, Gramnegative and fungi (Tournas and Katsoudas, 2005;Dos Santos et al, 2021). Contamination of raw fruits and vegetables with pathogenic organisms may occur during production, harvest, processing, transporting or handling before consumption.…”