Inactivation of Salmonella on Tomato Stem Scars by Edible Chitosan and Organic Acid Coatings

This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of antimicrobial coatings for inactivation of Salmonella on the surface of tomato stem scars. Scars were inoculated with a four-strain cocktail of Salmonella (serovars Montevideo, Newport, Saintpaul, and Typhimurium) and coated with acid-chitosan solutions. The chitosan coating with three acids (3A plus chitosan), the chitosan coating with one acid, and the three-acid solution without chitosan reduced the populations of Salmonella by 6.0, 3.6, and 5.3 log CFU per stem scar, respectively. Addition of allyl isothiocyanate (10 μl/ml) to the 3A plus chitosan coating did not significantly increase (P0.05) the antimicrobial efficacy. Although the populations of Salmonella in the controls (ca. 7.5 log CFU per stem scar) did not change significantly throughout the 14-day storage period at 10° C, Salmonella cells were reduced to undetectable levels (0.7 log CFU per stem scar) in the samples treated with 3A plus chitosan coating after two days of storage, and no growth was observed for the remaining storage period. Results from this study demonstrate that coatings of acid plus chitosan provide an alternative antimicrobial intervention for decontamination of tomatoes.