An Effective Sanitizer for Fresh Produce Production: Plasma-Activated Water Treatment Inactivates Pathogenic Bacteria and Maintains the Quality of Cucurbit Fruit.

The effect of plasma-activated water (PAW) generated with a dielectric barrier discharge diffusor (DBDD) system on microbial load and organoleptic quality of cucamelons was investigated and compared to the established sanitizer, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). Pathogenic serotypes of Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, and Listeria monocytogenes were inoculated onto the surface of cucamelons (6.5 log CFU g) and into the wash water (6 log CFU mL).

Decline of Listeria monocytogenes on fresh apples during long-term, low-temperature simulated international sea-freight transport.

Listeria monocytogenes has caused outbreaks of foodborne illness from apples in the USA, and is also a major issue for regulatory compliance worldwide. Due to apple's significance as an important export product from New Zealand, we aimed to determine the effect of long-term, low-temperature sea-freight from New Zealand to the USA (July) and Europe (March-April), two key New Zealand markets, on the survival and/or growth of L. monocytogenes on fresh apples.

Assessment of microbial risk during Australian industrial practices for Escherichia coli O157:H7 in fresh cut-cos lettuce: A stochastic quantitative approach.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 risk associated with the consumption of fresh cut-cos lettuce during Australian industrial practices was assessed. A probabilistic risk assessment model was developed and implemented in the @Risk software by using the Monte Carlo simulation technique with 1,000,000 iterations. Australian preharvest practices yielded predicted annual mean E.

Outbreaks, occurrence, and control of norovirus and hepatitis a virus contamination in berries: A review.

Foodborne enteric viruses, in particular HuNoV and HAV, are the most common cause of the berry-linked viral diseases, and outbreaks around the world, and have become an important concern for health authorities. Despite the increased importance of berry fruits as a vehicle for foodborne viruses, there is limited information concerning the fate of foodborne viruses in the berry supply chain from farm to consumer. A comprehensive understanding of berry-associated viral outbreaks - with a focus on contamination sources, persistence, survival, and the effects of current postharvest and processing interventions and practices - is essential for the development of effective preventative strategies to reduce risk of illness.

A one health exploration of the reasons for low cocoa productivity in West Sulawesi.

We conducted an interdisciplinary One Health study of potential links between agricultural, health and associated livelihood factors on the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa-growing families in West Sulawesi. Our 2017 survey of 509 cocoa smallholder family members in 120 households in Polewali-Mandar District, West Sulawesi, Indonesia showed that farmers face many challenges to improving their livelihoods, including land management, agricultural practices, nutrition and human health, animal health, aging and demographic changes. Price fluctuations, limited access to capital and poor health deterred farmers from applying agricultural inputs and resulted in levels of low cocoa production (275 kg/annum per household).

Genotype-by-environment interaction affects the essential mineral composition of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) kernels.

The concentrations of 15 essential minerals (B, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Se, and Zn) in kernels of nine diverse peanut genotypes, which were cultivated in five distinct growing environments, were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and -mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The effects of genotype, environment, and genotype-by-environment (G × E) interactions were significant (P < 0.05) for all elements excluding Cr.