ARS | Publication request: CONTROL OF BACTERIAL SOFT ROT AND FOODBORNE HUMAN PATHOGENS ON FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: December 16, 2002
Publication Date: September 30, 2003
Citation: LIAO, C., MCEVOY, J.L., SMITH, J.L. 2003. CONTROL OF BACTERIAL SOFT ROT AND FOODBORNE HUMAN PATHOGENS ON FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. IN: Research Signpost, Kerala, India. Advances in Plant Disease Management. P. 165-193.

Technical Abstract: Production and sale of fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S. has increased very sharply over the two decades. This chapter will address two most important problems now facing the fresh produce industry; one is to reduce the losses caused by bacterial soft rot and the other to reduce the safety risk associated with the contamination of salad vegetables and fruits with human gastrointestinal pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shigella spp. The enzymatic and molecular genetic mechanism by which pectolytic fluorescent pseudomonads (P. fluorescens and P. viridiflava) cause soft rot disease will be discussed. Pectolytic Pseudomonas and Erwinia are responsible for over 90% of rot of horticultural crops in storage and at markets. The competitive interactions between soft rot bacteria and human pathogens on fresh produce will be discussed. A few common strategies useful for controlling both spoilage bacteria and foodborne human pathogens on vegetables and fruits before and after harvest are presented.