Fruit Cleaning and Disinfection
Fruit Cleaning and Disinfection
Fruit Cleaning and Disinfection
2 citrus fruit
4 Zamuner, C. F. C.1; Dilarri, G.1; Cavalca, L. B.1; Behlau, F.2; da Silva, T. G.2; Bacci, Jr.
5 M.3; Ferreira, H. 1*
8 Estadual Paulista, Av. 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil
12 Estadual Paulista, Av. 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil
13
16
17
18 * corresponding author
20
21
22 Abstract
23
24 1. Introduction
25 Brazil is considered the largest producer of orange juice and second largest producer of
26 citrus fruit in the world, being surpassed only by China. Citriculture is one of the major
28 international trades. Moreover, the citrus industry generates thousands of direct and
29 indirect job positions, thus playing an important social role in the country (Neves, Trombin
30 et al., 2010). The most profitable market within citriculture is the fresh fruit production, in
31 which the product has a high aggregated value and comprised about 20% of the citrus
32 production in Brazil. Within the most cultivated varieties, limes and lemons occupy 5% of
33 the market (Moretti, 2007). However, fruit production and quality are constantly
34 threatened by crop plagues and diseases. Amongst them, a great focus has been given
36 subsp. citri (X. citri). Citrus canker affects all commercial citrus cultivars at different levels
37 and the only viable recuperation is through management (Ference, Gochez et al., 2018,
38 Gottwald, Graham et al., 2002). This bacterial disease has a great dispersion potential
39 through the combined action of wind and rain, and can be introduced in new areas due
40 to contaminated vegetal parts and fruit transport. In this context, the post-harvest
43 agriculture on April 25, 2018 (Brazil, 2018) began to divide citrus areas in different groups,
44 accordingly with citrus canker incidence and regulates the integrated management
45 strategy in spite of the eradication of plants. In the article 49, sodium hypochlorite is
47 packing house, all fresh fruit harvested from orchards where citrus canker is endemic,
48 should be immersed in a 200 ppm (0,2% v/v) sodium hypochlorite solution at pH 7 for 2
49 minutes. A number of sanitizing products are known and allowed to be used in other
50 countries. For instance, in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
51 approve the use of chlorine dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and ozone,
52 beyond sodium hypochlorite. In spite of other products, sodium hypochlorite is the only
53 product allowed in Brazil due to a number of researches in relation to its efficacy for
54 sanitizing several cultivars in post-harvest processing and low cost (Moretti, 2007).
55 Furthermore, sodium hypochlorite is considered generally safe, being used for nearly a
56 century as a disinfectant for water supplies (Mishra, Abrol et al., 2018). Nevertheless,
57 some concerns are associated with the used of hypochlorite solutions as they may result
59 noxious compounds due to the reaction with organic matter (Richardson, Thruston et al.,
60 2000). In addition, chlorine is a volatile substance that loses its effectiveness as it binds
61 to the organic material (soil, organic matter and other debris from the harvest) becoming
63 process, which may mask off the cost associated with its use. Moreover, it has a corrosive
64 effect on industrial equipment and may also damage fruit skin. The use of chlorine-based
65 products may cause environmental damage and risks to packing-house workers as it can
66 cause several damages to eyes and skin (Gil, Selma et al., 2009, Mishra et al., 2018,
67 Moretti, 2007) . Finally, the potential generation of harmful compounds due to the
68 interaction with the organic matter from harvest, may cause fruit refusal in the
70 In this scenario, although the IN21 implies the use of sodium hypochlorite in Brazil, it
71 also allows the use of other substances that are officially recognized as alternative fruit
72 disinfectants, provided that their efficacy and safety are scientifically demonstrated
73 (article 49, II paragraph). Recently a product named PosFruit was developed based on
74 vegetable oils and organic acids, which has a great potential to be used as a sanitizing
75 agent, once a number of research shows antifungal and antibacterial activity associated
76 with this substance and their derivatives (Chang, Chen et al., 2001, Friedman, Henika et
77 al., 2002, Lee & Ahn, 1998, Shreaz, Wani et al., 2016).
78 In this work, we evaluated the PosFruit action as a sanitizer for citric fruit (Tahiti limes)
80 action against X. citri. Moreover, we could not detect natural resistance to PosFruit, and
81 longer exposures to the product did not induce resistance in X. citri either. We also
82 show that PosFruit was as effective as hypochlorite to sanitize Tahiti limes artificially
85 X. citri.
86
90 (positive control) were used as sanitizing agents. PosFruit is a mix of organic acids and
91 vegetable oils, and was obtained from Aurora Agroespecialidades LTDA (Paulínia, São
92 Paulo – Brazil) - Lot number 3690006, 5L pack, manufactured in August 2017 (expire
93 date: August, 2020). Pluron 444A (containing sodium hypochlorite as the principal
94 agent) was produced by the company Mustangpluron (Catanduva, São Paulo, Brazil) -
95 Lot 2138, 5L pack. All experiments were performed from February until August 2018.
96
98 The Xanthomonas citri subp. citri strain used was the isolate 306 (IBSBF 1594)
99 (Schaad, Postnikova et al., 2006). Before being exposed to the sanitizing agents,
101 g/L of peptone, 3 g/L of yeast extract, 2% glycerol; for solid medium bacterial agar was
103
105 Liquid cultures had their Optical Densities (O.D. 600 nm) adjusted to 0.3 using fresh
106 NYG medium. Subsequently, cell suspensions were diluted 100x with fresh medium to
107 make test cultures of 5 mL, each containing 106 cells.mL-1. The product PosFruit was
108 added to the test cultures in order to give the final concentrations of 0.0625%, 0.125%,
109 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% (v/v). As positive control, cells were exposed to Kanamycin at 20
110 µg.mL-1. All treatments were kept at 29 oC for 4 hours and 200 rpm and after incubation,
111 samples of 100 µL of each treatment were spread onto NYG-agar plates for CFU
112 counting. The absence of growth after 96 h incubation indicated bactericidal activity.
113 The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was defined as the lowest concentration of
115
118 Bacteria were inoculated from plate in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 mL of
119 NYG and incubated at 29 oC under shaking (200 rpm) until cultures reached the O.D.
120 600 nm of 0.3. After incubation, the cultures were centrifuged at 6000 xg for 7 minutes
121 and the supernatant dispensed. Cells were resuspended in phosphate buffered saline
122 (1X PBS; 137 mM NaCl, 2,7 mM KCl, 10 mM Na2HPO4, 1,8 mM KH2PO4; pH 7,4) and
123 the O.D. 600 nm was again adjusted to 0,3 (108 cells/mL). Tahiti limes were selected to
126
128 Before the tests, fruit were washed with filter-sterilized tap water to remove impurities
129 from the harvest and dried at room temperature overnight. A total of 15 Tahiti limes,
130 divided in 5 groups (five replicates) were spray inoculated until the run-off point using
131 the X. citri cell suspension mentioned in 2.4.1, and let to dry at room temperature (~21
132 oC) for approximately 6 h. Fruit contaminated with X. citri were sprayed with PosFruit at
133 the concentrations of 1%, 2% and 5% until the run-off point. The fruit were exposed to
134 the products for 2 minutes, followed by the removal of the excess product using an air
135 drier (without heat) for 30 seconds. Sodium hypochlorite at 0.2% and 1X PBS were
137
139 Fruit utilized for the tests in the packing-house line were not washed before processing,
140 since they receive sprays of tap water during the automated sanitization. The whole
141 experiment was composed of two distinct experiments: (1) control and (2) test
142 experiment. For the control experiment, 15 limes, divided in 5 groups of 3 limes each
143 (five replicates), were labeled using a permanent marker for easy identification, and
144 then mixed with other limes to act as carriers throughout the sanitizing process. This
145 was necessary since small quantities of limes cannot be pushed throughout the line
146 efficiently. Each of the five groups was processed through the sanitizing line
147 independently (separate runs). Fruit in the control experiment were sprayed with water
148 only during the whole process. For the test experiment, 15 limes were again divided in 5
149 groups, labeled with a permanent marker, contaminated with X. citri as described in
150 section 2.4.2, and mixed with other limes (not contaminated) to act as carriers during
151 the sanitizing process. The 5 groups were processed independently through the line
152 with the difference that now they were sprayed with 2% of PosFruit in water (v/v) during
153 the run. Marked fruits were collected at the end of the line and allowed to dry at room
154 temperature.
155
159 tubes and centrifuged at 6000 xg for 7 minutes and the supernatant discarded. Cells
160 were then resuspended in 3 mL of 1X PBS and 100 µL were spread onto semi-selective
161 MGY-KCC medium (16 µg.mL-1 Kasugamycin, 16 µg.mL-1 Cephalexin, and 50 µg.mL-1
162 Cycloheximide) (Behlau, Jones et al., 2012). Colony growth was evaluated after 72 h of
163 incubation at 29 oC. To confirm the identity of X. citri colonies we performed diagnostic
164 PCR following the procedure described by Coletta-Filho, Takita et al. (2006).
165
167 The probability that X. citri developed resistance against PosFruit was evaluated
168 according to (Oz, Guvenek et al., 2014), with modifications. Starting cultures of 5 mL
169 each containing 106 cells.mL-1 were prepared using PosFruit at 1/8x of the MIC and
170 incubated for 24 h at 29 oC and 200 rpm. After the incubation period, 100 µL of the initial
171 cultures (1/8x the MIC) were inoculated on NYG-agar and incubated for 48 h at 29 oC
172 for CFU counting. In addition, 500 µL of the same cultures were used as inocula and
173 transferred to fresh 5 mL cultures (identical to the starting cultures), but now containing
174 PosFruit at 1/4x of the MIC. The transfer scheme was repeated until the maximum
177
180 PosFruit was added at 0,9x the MIC (starting culture). The bacterial suspension was
181 exposed to the product for 4 h at 29 oC under shaking (200 rpm). After incubation, 100
182 µL of the liquid culture were spread onto NYG-agar, without PosFruit, for the recovery of
183 X. citri cells. Colonies that were able to grow were inoculated into fresh liquid NYG
184 medium, now containing PosFruit at 1x the MIC, and incubated as before. Aliquots of
185 100 µL were spread onto solid media following product exposures of 4 h, 4.5 h and 24
186 h, and incubated for up to 48 h in order to assess for persistent colonies of X. citri.
187
188 3. Results
190 The efficacy of PosFruit to inhibit growth of X. citri was evaluated exposing bacterial
191 cultures to various dilutions of the product prepared directly into the culture medium.
192 PosFruit was able to inhibit X. citri growth in liquid medium at the concentration of
193 0.125% after 4 h of exposure. In addition, no colonies were recovered after plating
194 samples of the cultures on NYG-agar (Fig. 1, C). These results were comparable to our
195 positive control kanamycin, which has bactericidal action against X. citri at 20 g/mL
196 (Fig. 1, B). By decreasing the concentration of the product to 0.06%, there was still a
197 significant inhibition of bacterial growth reflected as a reduced cell turbidity in the culture
198 (not shown). However, upon plating samples of this culture on solid medium, a
199 considerable amount of X. citri colonies were able to grow (Fig. 1, compare D with our
200 negative and positive controls, A and B, respectively). Therefore, 0.125% was defined
204 X. citri cells were exposed to PosFruit at the MIC (0.125%), and following exposure
205 periods of 4 h, 4.5 h (half an hour beyond the incubation period used to define the MIC),
206 and 24 h, culture samples were spread onto NYG-agar (without any product) in order to
207 allow growth of persistent colonies. After several attempts, no colonies could be
208 recovered, which suggests that X. citri could not persist the treatment with PosFruit.
209 Additionally, to check if and how likely natural resistant cells could be found, we
210 prepared serial dilutions of X. citri cultures and plated them on NYG-agar containing
211 PosFruit at the MIC. Plates were incubated for up to a week under standard cultivation
213 A final approach to detect resistance to the product was to expose X. citri to
215 increasing up to as high as fourfold the MIC (Table 1). The rationale here was to test if
216 the product can induce any genetic alteration in the course of the increasing exposures,
217 and that could lead to PosFruit resistance. The experiment was initiated exposing X.
218 citri to 1/8 of the MIC (day 1). After 24 h incubation, culture samples were spread onto
219 NYG-agar, and as a result, we detected colonies in 3 out of 3 trials after 48 h of plate
220 incubation (Table 1, day 1). Fractions of the starting cultures (day 1, after 24 h
221 incubation) were used as inocula to prepare the subsequent cultures in which the
222 concentration of PosFruit was increased twofold (to 1/4 of the MIC). Upon plating
223 samples of cultures collected on the second day, we detected growth in 2 out of 3
224 plates. However, when the concentration of product reached half the MIC, bacterial
225 growth was halted (Table 1, day 3). The passages were continued until the
226 concentration of PosFruit reached four times the MIC (13th day), but neither the
227 increase of cell turbidity in liquid cultures nor the growth of colonies on plate were
228 detected from the third day on. Altogether, results show that the PosFruit action did not
230
232 The efficacy of PosFruit to sanitize Tahiti limes was evaluated by artificially
233 contaminating fruit with X. citri, following their exposure to three concentrations of the
234 product (Fig. 2; 1, 2 and 5%). The time-period of exposure was fixed to 2 min, since this
235 is the time used for the positive control hypochlorite. Treatments with PosFruit at the
237 CFU/mL recovered of X. citri (Fig. 2; compare panels A-1 and A-3; B). By further
239 the number of CFU/mL recovered, where the efficacy of PosFruit could be compared to
240 the positive control hypochlorite at 0.2% (Fig. 2; compare panels A-1, A-2, and A-4; B).
241 Although some X. citri colonies could still be recovered after treatments with 2%
242 PosFruit, other yellowish epiphytic/contaminants were detected (Fig. 2, A-4). These
243 contaminants were disregarded as false positives based on PCR analysis for X. citri.
244 Finally, exposure of Tahiti limes to PosFruit at 5% completely eliminated all the bacteria,
246 PosFruit was as effective as hypochlorite to sanitize Tahiti limes against X. citri when
247 used at 2% and a minimum exposure time of 2 minutes, leading to a reduction of 3 log10
249
251 The efficiency of PosFruit to sanitize Tahiti limes against X. citri was subsequently
252 evaluated using a commercial automated sanitization line (Fig. 3, A). Limes were
253 artificially contaminated with X. citri and mixed with X. citri-free fruit in XXX L plastic
254 boxes. Fruit were dropped into the line (Fig. 3, A-1) and let to roll through
255 uninterruptedly for ~2 minutes until the collection point (Fig. 3, A-5). During this process,
256 fruit were spray-washed with tap water (Fig. 3, A-3), followed by PosFruit at 2% for ~30
257 seconds each (Fig. 3, A-4). The rolls of the machine were set to a speed of 1730
258 rpm.min-1, which guaranteed that fruit were thoroughly covered with the product until the
259 run-off point by just passing through the line (Fig. 3, A-2). At the end, fruit were placed
260 in plastic boxes and let to dry at room temperature. Fruit washed with water only, led to
261 recovery of 4 log10 CFU/mL (Fig. 3, B, and C-1, red circles). The identity of X. citri
262 isolates was checked by PCR, and the enormous number of non-X. citri bacterial
263 colonies recovered was probably due to the fact that limes were washed with tap water
264 only before PosFruit application. This procedure was intended to mimic exactly the
267 citri, where no colonies could be recovered, and only epiphytic/contaminants were
268 detected on plate (Fig. 3, B, and C-2). The CFU/mL reduction considering our target X.
269 citri was therefore of 4 log10 when compared with the control treatment. We also
270 attribute the better effectiveness of the product to sanitize the limes when applied in an
271 automated system to an extra mechanical cleansing process probably exerted when
273
274 4. Discussion
275 Legislation allows only hypochlorite – however, it is toxic, damages the skin of the fruit
277 Natural resistance can be found in a population as a result of genetic mutations, for
278 instance, where one or more individuals present a selective advantage when are
280 are able to reduce its metabolism at the point that it cannot be affected by the action of
281 a compound during its growth phase (Martins, Merfa et al., 2018). Nevertheless, the
282 persistent colony its not resistant to the selective pressure in which it was exposed.
283 Once the persistent colony its identified and enters in contact with the same compound
284 in a new media, its growth will be influenced by the effects of the compound, which is
285 indicated for a decrease or even complete restriction in development. On the other
286 hand, resistant colonies are able to completely develop in higher concentrations of the
287 compound.
288 The manual treatment adapted here to simulate the sanitizing conditions used in
289 packing-houses showed that sodium hypochlorite was not effective to sanitize limes
290 against X. citri- perhaps this happened because the inoculum was too high!!!
291 This decrease of 1 log in X. citri growth, in comparison to the previous manual test, may
292 be caused due to the carrying process of fruits which are in contact with each other and
293 with the soft surface of the machine rolls. These surfaces can act scrapping off some
294 cells from fruits and this effect can be observed as a minor reduction in CFU.
295
296 5. Conclusion
297
298 Acknowledgments
300 São Paulo, FAPESP (201?/???). This work was funded by FAPESP (grant 2015/50162-
301 2) and INCT Citros (FAPESP 2014/50880-0 and CNPq 465440/2014-2). Aline???
302
305 against X. citri. Bacteria were exposed to different concentrations of PosFruit (from 1%
306 to 0.0625%) for a period of 4 h, and after serially diluted (from 10-1 to 10-6) for CFU
308 and D) 0.125% PosFruit. Experiments were repeated three times and in triplicates.
309 Here, we show only the plates derived from the cell counting in which PosFruit had
312 and then manually exposed to PosFruit as indicated. Following treatment, limes were
313 washed and the numbers of viable cells verified on plate growth (A) Cell viability check;
316 PosFruit/2 min. (B) colony forming units, CFU, determined for each of the treatments
317 (logarithmic scale). Experiments were repeated three times in triplicates; standard
318 errors are indicated by the vertical lines above the bars.
319
320 Fig. 3. Automated sanitization of Tahiti limes. Previously labeled fruit were
321 contaminated with X. citri, mixed with carrier limes, and loaded on the sanitizing
322 machine (A): 1, fruit drop point; 2, rollers; 3, water spray lines; 4, product spray line, and
323 5, fruit collection point. B) Colony forming units, CFU, derived from the treatments
324 (logarithmic scale). Water, negative control, and PosFruit at 2%. Experiments were
325 repeated three times in triplicates; standard errors are indicated by the vertical lines
326 above the bars. C) Plates from a representative CFU determination experiment: 1) plate
327 inoculated with washes from limes washed with water only (X. citri colonies are labeled
328 using red circles), and 2) plate inoculated with washes from limes exposed to PosFruit
329 at 2%.
330
Table 1
Day 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th
Bacterial growth b 3/3 2/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3
331 a Proportion of product regarding the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC= 0,125% of PosFruit suspension in water)
332 b Plating was done in triplicate; the values on the left of the slash sign show the number of plates in which any growth
334
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