Abstract
In Thailand, the consumption of sunflower sprouts has increased due to their nutritional value. However, there have been the outbreaks of foodborne illness caused by sprouts contaminated with enteric pathogens. The objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of lactic acid (1%, 2.5% and 5%(v/v)), acetic acid (1%, 2.5% and 5%(v/v)) and hot water (60°C, 70°C for 20s, 180s) on reduction of E. coli which is artificially inoculated on sunflower sprouts. The results showed that more than 2.4 log CFU/g reduction of E. coli was achieved when sprouts were treated with 5% lactic acid, followed by the hot water treatment at 70°C for 180s and 5% acetic acid. However, the hot water treatments also caused detrimental impact on the color and firmness of sunflower sprouts. This study suggests the method to decontaminate the pathogen on sunflower sprouts.
