Applying electrolyzed water in sprouts production for controlling microbial contamination
The microbes in sprouts are mainly from seeds and foodborne illnesses will outbreak when people eat sprouts contaminated by pathogens. The focus of this study was to apply electrolyzed functional water to seeds soaking to eliminate microbes on the surface of seeds. The result demonstrated that the electrolyzed functional water could reduce the number of microbes on the surface of seeds effectively, and after electrolyzed water treatment, the total microbial counts on the surface of soybeans and mung bean was less than 1 log cfu/g while alfalfa and radish seeds were (3.53±0.07) log cfu/g and (2.65±0.14) logcfu/g respectively. Scanning electronic microscope observation of mungbean showed that the outer wax coat of mungbean was breaked severely after treating with slightly acidic electrolyzed water combined with alkaline electrolyzed water. The result also showed electrolyzed functional water could improve germination percentage of soybean and radish seeds from 85% and 62% to 89% and 80% while didn't change germination percentage of mungbean and alfalfa seeds obviously.