Preventing adhesion of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 on tomato surfaces via ultrathin polyethylene glycol film

• An ultrathin film of polyethylene glycol (PEG) can be coated on tomato surfaces.
• PEG film can reduce bacterial attachment 90% or more on tomato surfaces.
• Bacterial attachment decreases exponentially with increasing PEG coverage.
• When desired, PEG film can be removed by rinsing with water.

This work deals with adhesion of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 (S. Typhimurium LT2) on polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated tomato surfaces. PEG coating was characterized by water contact angle technique, scanning electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. It was shown that PEG films could physisorb on the tomato surfaces after the oxygen plasma treatment, which made some outermost layers of the surfaces hydrophilic. Bacterial adhesion on PEG coated tomato surface was studied by standard plate count, fluorescence microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Fully covered PEG film reduced the bacterial attachment 90% or more in comparison to the bare tomato surface. The degree of bacterial attachment decreased exponentially with increasing PEG coverage. When desired, PEG film could be removed by rinsing with water. Overall, this work demonstrates the proof-of-concept that an ultrathin film of polyethylene glycol may be used to effectively inhibit the attachment of pathogenic bacteria on tomato surfaces.