Peracetic Acid Sanitation on Arugula Microgreens Contaminated with Surface-Attached and Internalized Tulane Virus and Rotavirus

In this study, we determined if the effectiveness of peracetic acid (PAA), a sanitizer used in the vegetable industry, is affected by the location of viruses (produce surface or interior tissue) in microgreen arugula. Either internally or externally contaminated hydroponically grown microgreen arugula was then treated with PAA at either 30 or 80  ppm for up to 3 min. The PAA disinfection efficacy was higher when the RV was on the arugula surface (approximately 5-log10 in PFU after 3  min of exposure), instead of the arugula interior (1.5-log10 in PFU after 3  min of exposure). However, PAA disinfection efficacy of TV was not dependent on the virus location in arugula. For both internalized TV and RV, the disinfection efficacy was less than 2-log10 in PFU using all the tested PAA concentrations and exposure times examined here. Thus, both the type and location of virus in fresh vegetables may influence the virus disinfection of postharvest vegetables. Therefore, the optimization of sanitation for postharvest fresh vegetables is needed to reduce foodborne viral infection risks.
Source: Food and Environmental Virology - Category: Virology Source Type: research