Combination of microbubbles with oxidizing sanitizers to eliminate Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium on Thai leafy vegetables

•The diameter of MB tested by laser diffraction particle size analyzer is 50-70 μm.•Combined MB and NaOCl killed S. Typhimurium and E. coli by 2-3 log reductions.•MB in washing treatments assist to detach microorganisms on vegetable's surface.•ORP >950 mV of washing solution has ability to kill pathogens on vegetable.

Microbubbles (MB) technology was applied in a washing process a few studies have been done with food materials, particularly to reduce the microbial contamination on leafy vegetables. This study determined the effectiveness of MB (Ø ∼ 50-70 μm) combined with three sanitizers acidic electrolyte water (AEO, 20 and 40 mg/L, ORP 910-1010 mV, pH 2.7-3.1), chlorine dioxide (ClO2, 3 and 5 mg/L, ORP 550-680 mV, pH 7.1-7.5), and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl, 40 and 80 mg/L, ORP 900-990 mV, pH 6.5-6.7) in order to inactivate Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium on artificially contaminated sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum Linh) and Thai mint (Mentha cordifolia Opiz.). Although air MB alone did not possess antimicrobial activity, washing with MB combined with the two oxidizing sanitizers (NaOCl and AEO) for 5 min resulted in an effective reduction in S. Typhimurium and E. coli on sweet basil and Thai mint with 2-3 log reductions (99.2-99.8%). Washing vegetables with MB and NaOCl at a concentration of free chlorine of 40 mg/L NaOCl or 20 mg/L AEO yielded the best results in killing S. Typhimurium with 1.21-1.90 and 0.67-2.25 log reductions, respectively. In addition, the reduction of E. coli and S. Typhimurium on sweet basil appeared to be higher than on Thai mint. Differences in surface roughness may assist the bubbles and sanitizers to detach bacterial cells and therefore increase the washing efficacy. Furthermore, applying sanitizers in washing solution was a powerful means of killing planktonic E. coli and S. Typhimurium in the wash water and preventing cross-contamination in the washing process.