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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363753
Research Project: Production Management Research for Berry Crops (BRIDGE PROJECT)

Location: Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory

Title: Microbial loads on selected fresh blueberry packing lines

Author
item GAZULA, HIMABINDU - University Of Georgia
item QUANSAH, JOYCELYN - University Of Georgia
item ALLEN, RENEE - University Of Georgia
item SCHERM, HARALD - University Of Georgia
item LI, CHANGYING - University Of Georgia
item Takeda, Fumiomi
item CHEN, JINRU - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Food Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2019
Publication Date: 2/6/2019
Citation: Gazula, H., Quansah, J., Allen, R., Scherm, H., Li, C., Takeda, F., Chen, J. 2019. Microbial loads on selected fresh blueberry packing lines. Food Control. 100:315-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.01.032.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.01.032

Interpretive Summary: The hygiene condition of fresh berry packing environment is critical in the production of microbiologically-safe and to ensure the safety of fresh blueberries. This study was undertaken to evaluate the hygiene conditions of six fresh blueberry packing lines in Georgia. On each packing line, 10 sites were sampled for aerobic, yeasts and mold, and coliform counts. The study revealed that by following standard sanitation treatments, good hygiene conditions can be maintained and also, prevention of microbial residue build-up on blueberry packing equipment surfaces.

Technical Abstract: Foodborne outbreaks have been linked to the consumption of blueberries contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. The microbial quality of blueberries could be influenced by the conditions of hygiene prevailing during post harvest handling. This study evaluated the hygienic conditions of six selected fresh blueberry packing lines. Five of the packing lines were sampled twice and the remaining one was sampled once during the summer of 2015 and the summer of 2017. A delimited area (100 cm2) on each of the 10 selected sites of the packing lines was swabbed with sterile sponges before the packing started (AM samples), during lunchtime break (NOON samples), and at the end of a packing day (PM samples). The sponges were thoroughly rinsed with Dey-Engley neutralization broth, which was subsequently sampled for total aerobes, yeasts and molds, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and enterococci. Results showed that sample site and sampling time had a significant influence (P=0.05) on total aerobic, yeast and mold, and total coliform counts. The PM samples had significantly higher (P=0.05) total aerobic, and yeast and mold counts than the NOON samples which had significantly higher (P=0.05) counts than the AM samples. Fourty-six out of the 310 (14.8%) collected samples tested positive for enterococci, while 27 (8.7%) samples tested positive for fecal coliforms. Berry lugs, rubber belts on color sorters, and premature berry disposing areas had significantly higher (P=0.05) microbial counts than the other sites. The study suggests that some sites along fresh blueberry packing lines could become contaminated by microorganisms during packing. Whether these contaminated sites will become a food safety concern depends on the incidence of pathogen presence in the microbial community and efficacy of routine sanitizing treatments.