Food Control 30 (2013) 491e496

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Food Control
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont

Evaluation of ozone efcacy on the reduction of microbial population of fresh cut

lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and green bell pepper (Capsicum annuum)
A. Alexopoulos a, *, S. Plessas a, S. Ceciu b, V. Lazar c, I. Mantzourani a, C. Voidarou a, E. Stavropoulou a,
E. Bezirtzoglou a
a
b
c

Democritus University of Thrace, Faculty of Agricultural Development, Laboratory of Microbiology, Biotechnology & Hygiene, Pandazidou 193, GR68200 Orestiada, Greece
NIRDMI Cantacuzino, Splaiul Independentei 103, Sector 5, Bucuresti 050096, Romania
Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Aleea Portocalilor 1-3, Sect. 6, Bucharest 060101, Romania

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 2 December 2011
Received in revised form
9 September 2012
Accepted 16 September 2012

Raw vegetables are usually contaminated by a variety of microorganisms. Post-harvest microora differs
considerably, reecting environmental and handling conditions and might compromise the safety of the
product and the consumers health.
Dipping or rinsing of vegetables in bleach solution is a common practice employed by the retailers and
catering companies in order to minimize the initial bacterial load on the surface of vegetables. Rinsing or
dipping vegetables in water saturated with ozone could be an alternative environmental friendly and
safer process since no harmful by-products or residues are formed.
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) dipped in chlorinated water (20 ppm)
resulted in 1 log decrease of the total microbial count in the rst 15 min. Immersing of vegetables in
water pre-saturated with ozone (0.5 mg/L) did not make any difference because the total microbial count
decreased approximately 0.5 log for the same time. Sanitation treatments were most effective when
vegetables were dipped in continuously ozonated (0.5 mg/L) water, leading at about 2 log of microbial
load decrease in the rst 15 min and 3.5 log after 30 min of exposure. The best results were achieved in
the case of bell pepper, as its smooth uniform surface allows higher ozone effectiveness. Bacteria
reduction kinetics in continuous ozonation trials were tted satisfactorily by a Weibull-based model
allowing a better optimization of the process.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Ozone sanitation
Lettuce
Bell pepper
Coliform
Yeasts/molds
Weibull model

1. Introduction
Fresh-cut vegetables are important components of the human
diet and there has been an increasing demand for their consumption in recent years. However, products such as fresh-cut or minimally processed vegetables, have been associated with severe foodborne disease outbreaks caused by bacteria contamination during
the various farming or post-harvest stages (Aytac, Ben, Cengiz, &
Mercanoglu Taban, 2010; McEvoy, Luo, Conway, Zhou, & Feng,
2009). Despite the technological progress and the establishing of
good agricultural and manufacturing practices, it seems that the
incidence of these outbreaks has increased, according to some
investigators, even beyond what can be explained by the demand
alone (Mercanoglu Taban & Halkman, 2011). Causing agents
are often highly virulent bacterial strains with a cross-border

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: 30 2552041169.

E-mail addresses: alexopo@agro.duth.gr, nalex@otenet.gr (A. Alexopoulos).
0956-7135/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.09.018

geographical dispersion as shown in the case of the last years

European outbreak of Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli
 ski et al., 2012). In order to
O104:H4 borne by sprouted seeds (Bilin
provide safe vegetables of high quality and to face consumers
demands, food processors always seek for sustainable, yet efcient
sanitation techniques (Arts, Gmez, Aguayo, Escalona, & ArtsHernndez, 2008; Selma, Allende, Lpez-Glvez, Conesa, & Gil,
2008).
Ozone disinfection technology gains more and more the attention of food industry during the last years (Sopher, Battles, &
Johnson, 2009) due to its distinct antimicrobial properties active
against bacteria, fungi, viruses and bacterial and fungal spores (Xu,
1999). Ozone has been recognized as a Generally Safe (GRAS)
substance (Khadre, Yousef, & Kim, 2001; Kim, Yousef, & Chism,
1999) and was also approved as a direct food additive for the
treatment, storage and processing in foods (Rice, 1999). Such
applications are the depuration of shellsh (Schneider, Steslow,
Sierra, Rodrick, & Noss, 1991), the disinfection of poultry carcasses
in the poultry industry (Chang & Sheldon, 1989), the sanitation of

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A. Alexopoulos et al. / Food Control 30 (2013) 491e496

food plant equipment and reuse of waste water (Rice, Farquhar, &
Bollyky, 1982; Seydim, Bever, & Greene, 2004). Particular applications of ozone on the sanitation of fruits and fresh-cut or minimally
processed vegetables have also reported (Arts et al., 2008; lmez
& Kretzschmar, 2009; Selma et al., 2008; Seydim et al., 2004). An
effective inactivation of microorganisms in shredded lettuce and
peppers exposed to various forms of ozone was reported by Kim
et al. (1999) and Han, Floros, Linton, Nielsen, and Nelson (2002).
Besides sanitation, ozone has been used in the shelf life extension of
packed vegetables as broccoli and seedless cucumbers (Skog & Chu,
2001) and mushrooms (Esciche, Serra, Gomez, & Galotto, 2001).
Some arguments on the use of ozone in working places and its
effects on the equipment and on the plant tissue have been
reviewed by lmez and Kretzschmar (2009).
Fresh vegetables in chain fast-food premises and catering
companies are commonly treated with tap water before their
consumption (Bott, 1991) and in many occasions with disinfectants,
such as chlorine in the form of sodium hypochlorite (Graham,
1997). However ozonation is considered a safer method because
in contrast to chlorination, it does not cause the formation of
carcinogenic trihalomethanes (Fawell, 2000) and may not alter
considerably the sensorial properties of the commodity (lmez &
Akbas, 2009). Another signicant advantage of ozone against
chlorine is the fact that ozone does not leave any chemical residues
and thus it has a minor environmental impact after the treatment
or disposal of washing wastes (lmez & Kretzschmar, 2009).
In terms of bacteria inactivation, ozone acts through oxidation
and destruction of cell walls and cytoplasmic membranes and
nally on their genetic material. If the bacterial DNA is the nal
target of ozone then bacteria will be unable to develop ozone
resistance which is also another advantage (Cullen et al., 2010;
Naito & Takahara, 2006). Additionally, ozone has elevated diffusion
capabilities that enables its rapid and readily diffuse through biological cell membranes. Therefore, differences in the membrane
structure of various microorganisms could explain their inherent
sensitivity since bacteria are more sensitive than yeasts and fungi
and Gram-positive bacteria are more sensitive than Gram-negative
(Cullen et al., 2010).
Besides the several studies on the ozone efciency at microbes,
scarce information is available on modeling the kinetic behavior of
food contaminants. It is desirable to design and optimize the ozone
sanitation of fresh-cut vegetables by using kinetic models that can
be evaluated quantitatively in order to improve the process design
(Alexandre, Brandao, & Silva, 2011). In ozone bacterial inactivation
kinetics the rapid reactivity between ozone and microorganisms
along with other environmental factors, as the presence of organic
material should be considered. Therefore in most of the cases, those
kinetic models exhibiting non-linear behavior and could include
shoulder and tailing characteristics (Cullen et al., 2010) adding
difculties in the procedure. Taking into account those particularities a Weibull-based model has been proposed by Mafart, Couvert,
Gaillard, and Leguerinel (2002) and Albert and Mafart (2005).
This study is focused on the determination of the efcacy of
ozone in the treatment of fresh-cut lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and bell
peppers (Capsicum annuum) as sanitizing agent. Additionally,
a Weibull-based model was assumed for microbial load reduction
over time, in order to modeling the kinetic behavior of microbial
contaminants.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation
Twenty ve samples of fresh green leaf lettuce (L. sativa) and
twenty ve samples of green bell peppers (C. annuum) were

purchased from local markets at the day of harvest. In lettuce, the

core and the wrapper leaves were discharged and the remaining
leaves were separated and grouped in portions of 200 g each. Green
peppers were also grouped in portions of 200 g. All vegetable
samples remained unwashed and uncut prior to sanitation in order
to simulate the practice most often used by caterers and vegetable
processors.
2.2. Chlorine and ozone sanitation trials
Sanitation experiments were conducted in glass beakers containing 5 L of sterile distilled water (w15  C) either chlorinated
with sodium hypochlorite (20 ppm of total chlorine) or ozonated. In
the latter trials, water was either pre-saturated with ozone (0.5 mg/
L) or continuously fed with air containing 5% ozone from
a commercial ozone gas generator (Air & Water System PC1325,
USA) in order to retain a relatively constant concentration of
0.5 mg/L O3.
Ozone and free chlorine concentration was estimated photometrically with the indigo method by using a commercially available kit (Hach Co., Loveland Co., USA). Nephelometric turbidity
units (NTU) in washing water was estimated photometrically (Hach
Co., Loveland Co., USA) and pH by means of a portable digital pHmeter (Cyberscan pH11, Eutech Instruments).
2.3. Microbiological analysis
Vegetables were analyzed for their surface microora before
(0 min) and after portions of 200 g were immersed in washing
solutions. Every 5 min and until the end of the experiment (i.e. 5, 10,
15, 20, 25 and 30 min) three subsamples of 10 g each were aseptically removed from the solution, analyzed and the average count
of bacteria was estimated. The microbiological tests were performed with the surface overlay technique after 3 min homogenization of 10 g of each sample with 90 mL of sterilized peptone water
in a Stomacher apparatus (BagMixer-Interscience, France). One
hundred microliters from a series of 1/10 dilutions in peptone water
were plated onto different selective and non-selective growth
media as follows: Violet Red Bile Lactose Agar (Oxoid Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK) for the enumeration of coliforms after
incubation at 37  C for 24 h. Aerobic mesophilic counts were
enumerated by using Plate Count Agar (Oxoid Ltd., Basingstoke,
Hampshire, UK) after incubation at 30  C for 24e48 h. Sabouraud
Dextrose Agar (Oxoid Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK) was used
for cultivation of yeasts and molds. Incubation of the plates was
performed accordingly to the medium aerobically for 48e96 h at
22  C.
2.4. Statistical analysis
Prior to the statistical analysis microbial counts were logarithmically transformed. The data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS 17.0. Duncans multiple range
(DMR) test was used at a signicance level of 0.05 (Steel & Torrie,
1994). A Weibull-based model (1) was assumed for microbial load
reduction throughout time (Albert & Mafart, 2005; Mafart et al.,
2002), able to describe concave, convex or linear curves followed
by a tailing effect. In this model N is the bacterial population, N0 and
Nres represents the initial bacterial population at t 0 and the
residual bacterial population at the end of the observation. The
d parameter represents the time of the rst decimal reduction and p
is related to the shape of the curve. The experimental data were
analyzed and model tted to the equation below by using GinaFIT
v1.5 (Geeraerd and Van Impe Inactivation model Fitting Tool)
a Microsoft Excel Add-inn which is available online via the

A. Alexopoulos et al. / Food Control 30 (2013) 491e496

493

Table 1
Effect of exposure time and sanitation method on microorganism reduction (Log10 CFU/g) on fresh lettuce and bell peppers.
Time (min)

Lettuce

Bell peppers

Continuous ozonationa
Aerobic mesophiles

0
5
10
15
20
25
30

3.75
3.51
2.99
2.04
1.20
1.05
0.66









0.06A
0.01A
0.12A
0.06A
0.05A
0.06A
0.02A

Coliforms

0
5
10
15
20
25
30

3.25
2.79
2.45
1.09
0.87
0.77
0.78









Yeasts/molds

0
5
10
15
20
25
30

4.48
3.45
2.77
2.50
2.15
2.20
2.34









Pre-ozonationb









0.02C
0.02D
0.02C
0.02A
0.11D
0.06D
0.12D

0.04A
0.03A
0.03A
0.04A
0.15A
0.15A
0.07A

4.53
2.27
1.42
1.50
1.19
1.10
0.87









0.05B
0.10B
0.04B
0.07B
0.09B
0.04B
0.08A

0.03A
0.06A
0.04A
0.04A
0.05A
0.11A
0.04A

4.06
3.66
3.54
2.90
2.35
2.14
2.04









0.04B
0.11B
0.05B
0.06B
0.07B
0.03A
0.04B









3.26
2.89
2.83
2.26
2.06
1.81
1.17









0.01B
0.04C
0.03C
0.01C
0.02C
0.08C
0.03C

Continuous ozonationa
3.47
3.09
2.76
2.07
0.45
0.25
0.20

3.74
3.62
3.50
3.28
3.15
3.08
3.07

0.02A
0.03B
0.02B
0.03B
0.03B
0.04B
0.05B

Chlorinated waterc

Pre-ozonationb
3.42
3.11
3.05
2.92
2.65
2.58
2.57









0.06C
0.07D
0.06A
0.03D
0.03E
0.04E
0.05E

Chlorinated waterc
3.26
2.91
2.78
2.26
1.48
1.16
0.62









0.03B
0.06C
0.04C
0.02C
0.10F
0.08F
0.14A

Data represent average value of three counts with their standard deviation. Means of the same row with different superscript letters differ signicantly (p < 0.05) according to
Duncans multiple range test (DMR).
a
Ozone concentration was kept constant to 0.5 mg/L.
b
Initial ozone concentration: 0.5 mg/L.
c
Initial free chlorine concentration: 20 ppm.

KULeuven/BioTeC-homepage http://cit.kuleuven.be/biotec/ by the

developers (Geeraerd, Valdramidis, & Van Impet, 2005).

h
Log10 N Log10 N0  Nres $10

  p 
t


Nres

(1)

3. Results and discussion

In our study, microbiological analyses (aerobic mesophiles,
coliforms and yeasts) of fresh lettuce and green bell pepper were
applied in order to evaluate ozone efcacy as an alternative sanitizing agent. For comparison, sodium hypochlorite was used
because it is considered as the most common treatment on fruits
and minimally processed vegetables (McEvoy et al., 2009). During
our experiments, ozone was supplied either continuously or at the
beginning of the experiment and in all instances concentration was
kept constant at 0.5 ppm. This was chosen because it is reported
that concentrations of ozone in water solution higher than 2 ppm
may lead to symptomatic, irritant, toxic, and irreversible health
effects in humans if excess of undissolved gas appears (Khadre
et al., 2001; Pascual, Llorca, & Canut, 2007). Concerning the physicochemical parameters of washing water, the temperature ranged
from 15 to 17  C, pH varied from 6.5 to 7.3 and turbidity was below
2.7 NTU.
The rst set of experiments were organized in order to evaluate
the impact of ozonation in fresh green lettuce (L. sativa) and bell
peppers (C. annuum) regarding reduction of aerobic mesophiles
compared to sodium hypochlorite. Afterward, continuous ozonation was compared to ozonation conducted at the beginning of the
treatment regarding seduction of coliforms and yeast/molds. As
shown by the results in Table 1 and Fig. 1, continuous ozonation
prevailed in efciency, since the reduction of the microbial load was
1.7 log higher than the one achieved by sodium hypochlorite (1 log
decrease) and pre-ozonation (0.46 log) after the rst 15 min (DMR,

p < 0.05). These differences were even higher after 30 min of

exposure reaching 3.04 log and 3.27 log for continuous ozonation in
lettuce and bell peppers respectively in contrast to 0.67 log and
0.85 of pre-ozonation or even 2.03 log and 2.64 log of chlorination
(DMR, p < 0.05). The last set of experiments concerned the examination of coliforms and yeasts/molds reduction for both the lettuce
and green pepper (Table 1, Fig. 2). More satisfying results were
observed in the case of green bell peppers (C. annuum) where
coliform counts were reduced by 3 log units after the rst 7 min of
continuous ozonation. On the other hand, in the case of lettuce,
a 2.2 log reduction was observed for coliforms but only after 15 min
of treatment. The overall reduction of coliforms for lettuce

Fig. 1. Effect of pre-ozonated, continuous ozonated and chlorinated water (20 ppm
free chlorine) on Log10 CFU/g reduction of aerobic mesophiles in lettuce and bell
pepper. Fitted model (lines) in the case of continuous ozonated water is also shown.

494

A. Alexopoulos et al. / Food Control 30 (2013) 491e496

Fig. 2. Effect of continuously ozonated water Log10 CFU/g reduction of coliforms and yeasts/molds in lettuce and bell pepper. Fitted model (lines) in the case of coliform reduction is
also shown.

(2.47 log) was lower and differed signicantly (DMR, p < 0.05) from
the reduction observed in peppers (3.66 log). Accordingly, signicant differences (although of lower magnitude) were also recorded
for yeasts/molds since the overall reduction of yeasts/molds in both
vegetables after 30 min of treatment was in the range of 2.02e
2.14 log units. According to the Weibull-based model, the
d parameter which represents the time of the rst decimal reduction was 3.32 min for coliform and 13.88 min for yeasts/molds in
peppers. As observed, bacteria in general were more prone to ozone
action than yeasts/molds since their counts were reduced considerably after shorter times of exposure. In a similar study where the
investigators applied different ozone concentrations, a 6 log
reduction of total mesophilic bacteria in escarole, carrot and
spinach was reported after 20 min of ozone treatment while the
reduction of molds and yeasts ranged between 2 and 3 log
respectively (Selma et al., 2008). Such ndings have been attributed
on each microorganisms inherent sensitivity which is one of the
major parameters governing the ozone efcacy (Cullen et al., 2010).
As a result, yeasts molds and especially spore forming bacteria,
require increasing ozone concentrations and longer exposure times
for their inactivation. Akbas and Ozdemir (2008) examined the
ozone action in aked red peppers and observed that ozone
concentrations above 5.0 ppm for 360 min must be used in order to
reduce Bacillus cereus spores by 1.0e2.0 log units.
Concerning the reduction kinetics of different sanitizing agents
our results are also in accordance with those obtained by other
investigators. Kim, Kwon, Kwon, Cha, and Jeong (2006) reported
reductions about 2.5 log units in the natural microora of lettuce by
the application of 1.5e3.0 ppm ozonated water and these values
were comparable with the reductions obtained by 100 ppm chlorine treatment which is ve times the concentration we used. In
a study of Horvitz and Cantalejo (2008), fresh-cut red peppers were
treated with 0.7 ppm gaseous ozone for 1, 3 and 5 min before
packing. It was observed that ozone treatment reduced the counts
of yeasts, molds, aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria
while chlorinated water (200 ppm) used in parallel was not equally
effective. In accordance, the superior sanitizing action of ozone in
comparison to other sanitizing methods as the ultraviolet radiation
treatment of washing water has been also reported (Selma et al.,
2008).
In our study, peppers showed a dynamic direct effect upon the
microora with a constant decrease in bacterial population (Fig. 2).
In contrast, the ozone effect on lettuces showed several uctuations
on the populations dynamic prole. Green peppers have a smooth
quite uniform surface whereas leafy vegetables as lettuce have

extremely irregular and rugged surfaces with many hides which

could be a niche for bacteria contaminants. It is expected that
microbes should be detached from plant tissue and released in
ows in order to get exposed in the ozone action (Cullen et al.,
2010); this fact could explain the observed uctuations in our
reduction kinetics regarding lettuce. Therefore, getting a better
ozone dispersion in the sanitizing solution is critical as ndings
published by various authors showed that sanitization treatments
were more effective when ozone was bubbled, for example during
apple surface washing, than by simply dipping the fruits in preozonated water (Achen & Yousef, 2001; Sapers, Miller, &
Mattrazzo, 1999). Our results are in agreement with the above; as
we observed that continuous ozonation of washing water was more
effective than the immersion of vegetables in pre-saturated water.
Additionally, in the study of Achen and Yousef (2001), an increased
reduction of E. coli counts was observed, reaching the levels of 3.7
and 2.6 log CFU on apple surface, compared to 1 log CFU decrease in
the stem-calyx region. The stem-calyx region is an irregular region
with hides detaining microbes compared to the smooth apple
surface region. Probably variables related with vegetable
morphology (porous surface, waxy cuticle) inuenced ozone
diffusion and sanitation efciency leading to relatively poor Weibull model tting into our non-continuous ozone experiments. On
the opposite, this model satisfactorily tted to the data from our
continuous ozonation trials exhibiting R-square values ranged from
0.973 to 0.989. Mathematical models as the one applied here have
been adequately used in experiments of microbial inactivation by
thermal preservation methods (Albert & Mafart, 2005; Mafart et al.,
2002), and contribute to determine the extend to which the process
should be applied improving safe standards and process design.
The antimicrobial efcacy of ozone also depends on factors
associated with its solubility, stability and decomposition
(Bezirtzoglou & Alexopoulos, 2008). In our study the role of such
parameters was not examined but it is known that increased
temperatures could lower the solubility of ozone (Rice, 1999).
Ozone activity could also be inuenced by the presence of organic
compounds and extreme pH variations (lmez & Akbas, 2009).
However, it has also been demonstrated that under usual sanitizing
conditions i.e. ambient temperatures between 15 and 20  C, pH
values of 6.5e7.5 and turbidity of washing waters below 5
Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) has no pronounced effect on
inactivation with ozone (Khadre et al., 2001; Kinman, 1975;
Rennecker, Kim, Corona-Vasquez, & Marias, 2001; Walsh, Sproul,
& Buck, 1980). In any case, the kinetics of C  T concept (product of
disinfectant concentration and contact time) looks applicable as

A. Alexopoulos et al. / Food Control 30 (2013) 491e496

with chlorine inactivation, when the limitations in extrapolation

are taken in account (Gyurek, Finch, & Belosevic, 1997; Khadre et al.,
2001).
A possible effect in the sensorial properties of sanitized vegetables is another issue of concern. In our experiments, such alterations was not evaluated as our intention was to study the
efciency of ozone treatment on vegetables intended for immediate consuming and not for long-term storage or packaging, where
some effects could be appear. Akbas and Ozdemir (2008) found
slight, but signicant changes in avor, appearance and overall
palatability of aked red pepper ozonated between 5.0 and 9.0 ppm
but not in the case of lower concentrations of ozone as for example
the 0.5 mg/L we used. Martnez-Snchez et al. (2006) reported no
differences in color, texture and freshness in rocket leaves in the st
day after ozone treatment while the same results were previously
found for fresh-cut iceberg lettuce washed with ozone-treated
water at different concentrations (Beltrn, Selma, Marn, & Gil,
2005). Also, in the same study the authors reported no signicant
changes in vitamin C or in the phenolic contents of lettuces washed
with different sanitizing solutions. These ndings suggest that
ozone treatment do not deteriorate the quality of the product more
than any other method do.
Raw vegetables are usually contaminated by different microorganisms. Increasing attention has been paid on the safety of vegetables and fruits, and in particular on the interventional
technologies focused to reduce and eliminate microbial pathogenic
charges from these fresh produces. Traditionally, water is used to
wash fruits and vegetables surfaces. However, chlorine is the most
known sanitizing agent for these fresh products. As mentioned,
chlorination causes the formation of carcinogenic trihalomethanes
in food (Fawell, 2000; Kim et al., 1999) and seems to have a limited
effect in killing bacteria on fruit and vegetable surfaces up to 1- or
2-log reduction (Sapers et al., 1999). Ozone is a strong antimicrobial
agent in both gaseous and aqueous phases. The oxidizing mechanisms of ozone may involve direct reactions of molecular ozone and
free radical e mediated destruction (Bezirtzoglou & Alexopoulos,
2008). The main advantage of ozone use consists of its superiority compared to chlorine for a few capital reasons; Ozone is reported to have 1.5 times the oxidizing potential of chlorine and 3.0
times the potential of hypochlorous acid (Hernandez, Zappi,
Colucci, & Jones, 2002), acting 3000 times faster than chlorine
(Hoign & Bader, 1985) and without producing harmful decomposition products (Troyan & Hansen, 1989). Additionally, occurring
efuents are environmental safer and require fewer treatment and
disposal efforts.
As a conclusion, it seem that regarding to the sanitation method,
the continuous ozonation of washing water with relatively low
concentration of ozone (0.5 mg/L) gave better results on bacteria
reduction, and was efciently tted by a Weibull-based model than
chlorination or even washing the vegetables in pre-ozonated water.
Total mesophiles and coliforms were more prone to ozone action in
comparison to yeast/molds. A nal observation concerns ozone
efciency on the type of vegetable, indicating that maybe this
method of sanitation cannot be widely adopted for all kinds of fresh
vegetables and different approaches should be considered by the
food industry.

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