The antimicrobial, antibrowning, and shelf-life study of fruit and vegetable sanitizer from herbal extracts

Abstract

In the past 3 years, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that there were at least 7 outbreaks in fresh produces , for example; Escherichia coli 0121 in raw clover sprouts (2014), E. coli 0157:H7 in ready-to-eat salads (2013), and Salmonella Saintpaul in cucumbers (2013). The cleaning of fresh produces is the first step in order to prevent foodbome outbreak. Therefore, this research was aimed to develop and study the shelf life of fruit and vegetable sanitizer from Thai herb crude extracts including Chili (Capsicum annuum), Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix),. Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum indicum . L) and Som-poi (Acacia concinna (Willd.) D.C). The fruit and vegetable sanitizer was prepared by adding 1.5% of each 0.2 mg/ml crude extracts into Som-poi's pod water and was sterilized at 121 °C for 15 min. The percentage of antimicrobial efficiency was used for evaluating the antibacterial activity and studying shelf-life comparing with 2 commercial brands (Jirada and Veggie). Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) as vegetable model was soaked in 1 % sanitizer for 20 min and was done for total plate count every month for 3 months. The results showed that the fruit and vegetable sanitizer had the highest percentage of antimicrobial efficiency in 151 and 2nd month; 87.00±13.58, 78.70±25.01, respectively. The antimicrobial efficiency was significantly decreased after 2nd month. This indicated that the fruit and vegetable sanitizer from herb extracts showed antibacterial activity and its shelf-life was only 2 months. For antibrowning activity, apple (Ma/us domestica), as fruit model, was soaked in 0.1 % fruit and vegetable sanitizer for 2 min, and then color was measured by using colorimeter every 10 min for 50 min. The total color difference (!1£) was used to evaluate the antibrowning activity. The results showed that fruit and vegetable sanitizer had no antibrowning activity.