Antibacterial Effects of Electrolyzed Oxidizing Seawater Against Food-borne Pathogens in Bacteria Suspensions and on Food Processing Surfaces

Abstract:

In order to investigate the application potential of electrolyzed oxidizing seawater in reducing bacteria contamination, antibacterial effects of electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) seawater against harmful bacteria in suspensions and on food processing surfaces were studied in this paper. EO seawater was prepared from seawater and diluted seawater with tap water after electrolysis for 7 and 15 minutes. Bacteria suspensions including Escherichia coli O157:H7 (4.8×108 CFU/mL), Salmonella enteritidis (8.4×107 CFU/mL), Listeria monocytogenes(7.8×107 CFU/mL), Morganlla morganii (6.6×107 CFU/mL) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (2.0×107 CFU/mL) were individually treated with EO seawater. The populations of all bacteria cells in suspensions were reduced hardly to zero after EO seawater treatment for 1min. Chips of stainless steel sheet, ceramic tile, floor tile, cleaning towels and gloves were inoculated with the bacteria and soaked in EO seawater for 5 min. Viable cells of bacteria were detected on all food processing surfaces after being hold at room temperature. Treatment of EO seawater reduced food-borne pathogens to undetectable level on stainless steel sheet, ceramic tile and floor tile. The results suggest that EO seawater be an ideal disinfection agent and used for decontamination of harmful bacteria on food processing surfaces.