Effects of several sanitisers for improving quality attributes of minimally processed Fragaria vesca strawberry

In order to decrease microbial contamination, fresh-cut industry commonly uses sodium hypochlorite as a disinfection agent, however, the by-products such as trihalometanes and chloramines are potentially harmful for human health making necessary the search for alternative disinfectant agents. A comparative study on the effectiveness of different disinfection methods on the quality of minimally processed F. vesca strawberry is presented. The fruit was processed in a clean room through the following steps: reception, cutting, washing, draining, and packaging. The processed strawberries were packaged in thermally sealed polypropylene trays using passive modified atmosphere. During a storage period of 8 days at 4ºC, the quality parameters, sensory attributes, and microbial counts were determined. As conclusion, the use of lactic acid at a concentration of 2.5 g/l in the washing water was effective in reducing microbial counts, maintaining the sensory attributes and quality of the product during the storage. The present study demonstrates that the use of lactic acid in the washing water could be a good alternative of the use of sodium hypochlorite and suggests that strawberries could make an acceptable fresh-cut product.