Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is commonly generated by mixing sodium chlorite and acid. This study aimed to evaluate how acid affects the release kinetics and antimicrobial property of ClO2. Solutions made with weak acids released ClO2 more slowly and had higher stability than those made with hydrochloric acid. Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes were treated with 1, 2.5, and 5 ppm ClO2 for 3 or 5 min. Lettuce inoculated with the pathogenic bacteria were treated with 2.5 and 5 ppm ClO2 for 5 min. The effects of peptone load at 0.01% and 0.02% on the antimicrobial efficacy of ClO2 were investigated in S. Typhimurium cell suspensions. The contribution of acids alone at the pH of the ClO2 solutions to bacterial reduction was also evaluated. The 2.5 ppm ClO2 solutions made with citric acid, lactic acid, and malic acid showed higher reductions in all three bacteria than ClO2 made with hydrochloric acid and sodium bisulfate. The 5 ppm ClO2 solutions produced with organic acids reduced populations of all bacterial strains from 7 log CFU/mL to undetectable level in 3 min, except S. Typhimurium treated by ClO2 produced with lactic acid. On inoculated Romaine lettuce model, 5 ppm ClO2 produced with lactic acid and malic acid resulted in the highest reduction of E. coli O157:H7, S. Typhimurium, and L. monocytogenes of approximately 1.4, 1.7, and 2.4 log CFU/g, respectively. The antimicrobial efficacy of ClO2 made with HCl and NaHSO4 were affected by 0.01% and 0.02% peptone load, respectively. Food-grade organic acids produced aqueous ClO2 solutions with stronger antimicrobial properties than inorganic acids. The acids alone at the pH of ClO2 did not show significant bacterial reductions.
Keywords: Aqueous chlorine dioxide; Escherichia coli O157:H7; Food-grade organic acids; Listeria monocytogenes; Romaine lettuce; Salmonella Typhimurium.
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