Effect of different chemical compounds and ultrasound bath on the sanitization of minimally processed carrots

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of different chemical compounds combined with ultrasound bath on the sanitization of minimally processed carrots. The sanitizers sodium hypochlorite, peracetic acid, and sodium dichloroisocyanurate were investigated, all of them associated with the ultrasound bath, and the aerobic mesophiles and E. coli counts were evaluated. Sodium hypochlorite associated with ultrasound reduced the population of aerobic mesophiles and E. coli by 0.23 and 1.88 log cycles, respectively. For sodium dichloroisocyanurate associated with ultrasound, the reduction was 3.06 and 2.76 log cycles, while for the association with peracetic acid, this reduction was 2.72 and 2.35 log cycles. Thus, the effect of the ultrasound bath and sodium dichloroisocyanurate increased the decontamination efficiency of the minimally processed carrots. In addition, there is an alternative to the use of sodium hypochlorite, once they are not involved in reactions with organic compounds and the formation of trihalomethanes, which are harmful to health.