The treatment with vapors of essential oils in the vacuum cooling has a significant effect on surface microbial decontamination of fresh vegetables

© 2019 International Institute of Refrigeration. All rights reserved.Fresh vegetables are vulnerable to microbial contamination. Washing treatments with synthetic disinfectants are generally used in fresh vegetables. However, consumers demand natural antimicrobial substances. Many reports have demonstrated that the application of essential oils (EOs) in the vapor phase can decrease the dose to inactive surface microbial contamination. Vacuum cooling has been reported as a good method of fast cooling of many types of vegetables. Also, another characteristic of this cooling method is that vacuum level at the end of the cooling is generally of 5-6 hPa. In these conditions, the application of vapor of EOs can be more effective than at atmospheric pressure. This work has highlighted that treatment with vapors of EOs at the end of the vacuum cooling reduces the surface microbial contamination in 4 Log CFU and increases the shelf life of the produces. Moreover, sensory analysis of vegetables treated with vapors of EOs at vacuum was better during shelf life.