Evaluation of levulinic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate as a sanitizer for use in processing Georgia-grown cantaloupes.

Freshly harvested Georgia-grown cantaloupes (Cucumis melo L. var. reticulatus cv. Athena and Atlantis) were spot inoculated with 100 μl of a five-strain mixture of Salmonella enterica serovar Poona (9 log CFU/ml) at the stem scar and on the netted rind and then subjected to no treatment (control) or a 6-min treatment (tank only) in water, 120 ppm of chlorine (pH 7.0), 1% levulinic acid plus 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS; pH 3.0), or 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS (pH 3.0). The log reduction for the tank-only treatments was 0.31, 0.59, 1.32, and 1.37 log CFU/g at the stem scar and 0.97, 1.59, 2.06. and 3.37 log CFU/g on the netted rind for water, chlorine, 1% levulinic acid plus 0.1% SDS, and 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS, respectively. A greater log reduction was observed for the cantaloupe surface tissue with the water, chlorine, and 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS treatments when additional sanitizer (2 ml) and brushing (to simulate cantaloupes tumbling over brushes on the processing line) were added to the dump tank treatment. The stem scar tissue reductions were 0.90, 1.69, and 1.53 log CFU/g, whereas the netted rind reductions were 1.56, 2.50, and 4.47 log CFU/g after treatment with water, chlorine, and 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS, respectively. These data suggest that 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS is effective for reducing Salmonella on the netted rind surface of cantaloupes. However, neither 2% levulinic acid plus 0.2% SDS nor 120 ppm of chlorine substantially reduced Salmonella on stem scar tissue.