Abstract
Sprouts have many advantages, such as high nutritional value and simple cultivation conditions. In recent years, the loss rate of sprouts due to microbial contamination has been as high as 40%, and it is necessary to strengthen microbial control technology to reduce such losses. Current microbial control methods have issues such as a narrow bactericidal spectrum and high cost and contamination, whereas slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW), as a new type of disinfectant, can solve these problems. In the present study, the efficacy of SAEW treatments in the disinfection of oat sprouts during germination and washing was evaluated at 25 °C and 4 °C compared to a TW control group. The results showed that compared to the TW control group, the Escherichia coli detection rates were significantly decreased by 2.32, 4.44 and 5.55 log(10) CFU/g after soaking, undergoing germination for 60 h and washing with SAEW at 4 °C. This indicated that the 4 °C + SAEW treatment had a favorable bactericidal effect on the whole process of oat sprout washing. This result was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, for natural colony counts in oat sprouts, the 4 °C + SAEW treatment also showed strong bactericidal ability. Therefore, the application of SAEW combined with low temperature stress treatment in sprout production and processing has high potential.