Changes in physicochemical properties and bactericidal efficiency of acidic electrolyzed water ice and available chlorine decay kinetics during storage

•AEW ice is a new kind of bactericide for preservation or cold sterilization.•Changes in the physiochemical properties of AEW ice were studied during storage.•The dominant factor affecting sterilization of AEW ice was obtained by Pearson correlation coefficient.•ACC of AEW ice was the most influencing factor on inactivating pathogenic bacteria.•The decay of available chlorine of AEW ice followed the first order kinetics.

Acidic electrolyzed water ice (AEW ice) is a new kind of bactericide used in preservation or cold sterilization of food products. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the physicochemical properties (oxidation reduction potential (ORP), pH value and available chlorine concentration (ACC)), bactericidal efficiency, and decay kinetics of available chlorine in AEW ice during 10 h of storage time. Results indicated that pH changes of AEW ice did not have a significant difference (p > 0.05) during the first 6-h storage, after 6 h, the pH of AEW ice prepared with ≤1 g/l NaCl solution changed more slowly than that of AEW ice prepared with >1 g/l NaCl solution. Both ORP and ACC decreased with storage time. The ACC of AEW ices prepared from >1.5 g/l NaCl solutions decreased faster and in a greater extent than those prepared from ≤1.5 g/l NaCl solutions. According to the correlation analysis, the correlation coefficients between pH, ORP, and ACC and Vibrio parahaemolyticus inactivation were −0.831, 0.787 and 0.944, respectively, and those between the above parameters and Listeria monocytogenes inactivation were −0.814, 0.701 and 0.97, respectively. Based on the kinetic study, the decay of ACC fitted the first order kinetics.