Surface pasteurization of fresh pomelo juice vesicles by gaseous chlorine dioxide

Authors：Lin, Xian; Chen, Gaohui; Jin, Tony Z.; Li, Xiangyu; Xu, Yujuan; Xu, Baojun; Wen, Jing; Fu, Manqin; Wu, Jijun^*; Yu, Yuanshan^*

Source：Journal of Food Safety, 2023, 43(2): e12975.

DOI：10.1111/jfs.12975

• ESCHERICHIA-COLI INACTIVATION
• SALMONELLA-TYPHIMURIUM
• ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY
• GAS
• EFFICACY
• QUALITY
• QUANTIFICATION
• TOMATOES
• PRESERVATION
• FUMIGATION

This study developed an in-package pasteurization method that released gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) triggered when moisture vapor from the fresh produce interacted with a ClO2 precursor. The samples were placed in sealed containers (750 ml) containing mixtures (0.1-1.0 g) of sodium chlorite and citric acid powders (1:1) and treated for up to 15 min at 25 degrees C. Our results showed that, production of gaseous ClO2 was linearly correlated with the reaction time (R-2>0.95) with mean concentrations in the range of 1.70 - 8.66 mg/L. The gaseous ClO2 treatments for 15 min significantly reduced Escherichia coli and fungi populations on pomelo juice vesicles with reductions of 6 and 2 log CFU/g, respectively. Perchlorate and chlorite in samples were not detected, and chlorate was only detected when the mean ClO2 concentration was over 4.09 mg/L. The treatments did not significantly affect total soluble solids, total acids, pectin and malondialdehyde contents, and color of pomelo juice vesicles. The contents of ascorbic acid, naringin, and limonin, and bitterness score decreased with the increase of mean ClO2 concentrations. Overall, our results demonstrate an effective nonthermal approach for microbial inactivation while maintaining the quality of fresh pomelo juice vesicles.

• Institution
  广东省农业科学院