Abstract
Food safety is becoming an increasing concern in the United States. This study investigated the effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light as a postpackaging bactericidal treatment on the quality of English cucumber packaged in polyethylene (PE) film. Escherichia coli k-12 was used as a surrogate microbe. The microbial growth and physical properties of packaged cucumbers were analyzed during a 28-d storage period at 5 °C. Inoculating packaged cucumbers treated at 23 °C for 6 min with UV-C (560 mJ/cm(2) ) resulted in a 1.60 log CFU/g reduction. However, this treatment had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the water vapor transmission rate or oxygen transmission rate of the PE film. Results show that UV-C light treatment delayed the loss of firmness and yellowing of English cucumber up to 28 d at 5 °C. In addition, UV-C light treatment extended the shelf life of treated cucumber 1 wk longer compared to untreated cucumbers. Electron microscopy images indicate that UV-C light treatment influences the morphology of the E. coli k-12 cells. Findings demonstrate that treating cucumbers with UV-C light following packaging in PE film can reduce bacterial populations significantly and delay quality loss. This technology may also be effective for other similarly packaged fresh fruits and vegetables.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
UV-C treatment reduced E. coli k-12 on packaged cucumbers by 1.60 log CFU/g.
- Taxon
- English Cucumbert0
- Treatment
- UV-C (560 mJ/cm(2) )e0
- Outcome
- packaged cucumberse0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- 1.60 log CFU/ge0
Not reportedInteractorComparator
Verbatim
e0“Inoculating packaged cucumbers treated at 23 °C for 6 min with UV-C (560 mJ/cm(2) ) resulted in a 1.60 log CFU/g reduction.”
t0“English Cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
UV-C treatment did not significantly affect the water vapor or oxygen transmission rate of PE film.
- Taxon
- English Cucumbert0
- Treatment
- this treatmente0
- Outcome
- water vapor transmission rate or oxygen transmission ratee0
- Direction
- no significant effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“this treatment had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the water vapor transmission rate or oxygen transmission rate of the PE film”
t0“English Cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
UV-C delayed cucumber firmness loss and yellowing through 28 days at 5 °C.
- Taxon
- English cucumbere0
- Treatment
- UV-C light treatmente0
- Outcome
- loss of firmness and yellowinge0
- Direction
- delayede0
- Qualifier
- up to 28 d at 5 °Ce0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“UV-C light treatment delayed the loss of firmness and yellowing of English cucumber up to 28 d at 5 °C”
Claim · model-written summary
UV-C extended cucumber shelf life by one week compared with untreated cucumbers.
- Taxon
- cucumber
Cucumis sativuse0 - Treatment
- UV-C light treatmente0
- Outcome
- shelf lifee0
- Direction
- extendede0
- Value
- 1 wke0
- Comparator
- untreated cucumberse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“UV-C light treatment extended the shelf life of treated cucumber 1 wk longer compared to untreated cucumbers”
Claim · model-written summary
UV-C treatment changed E. coli k-12 cell morphology on packaged cucumber.
- Taxon
- English Cucumbert0
- Treatment
- UV-C light treatmente0
- Interactor
- E. coli k-12
.jpg?width=60)
Escherichia colie0pathogen - Outcome
- morphology of the E. coli k-12 cellse0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“UV-C light treatment influences the morphology of the E. coli k-12 cells”
t0“English Cucumber”
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See all 8 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.