Estudo da vida de prateleira de saladas minimamente processadas com diferentes tratamentos: lavagem, sanitização e embalagem a vácuo

Abstract

Minimally processed salads are classified as minimally processed foods, vegetables that suffered washing stages, sanitization, peeling, cuts of different types for the preparation of ready-to-eat portions. The objective of this research was to analyze the shelf life of minimally processed salads produced with three treatments, the first one consisted of washing with just water, the second one washing and sanitizing with chlorine solution and the third one washing with sanitization and vacuum packaging. The pathogenic microorganisms Salmonella, Escherichia coli and spoilage microorganisms were analyzed, such as psychrotrophic aerobes, the latter analyzed on days 5, 7 and 12. Salmonella and Escherichia coli presented results in accordance with the legislation in all treatments. Psychrotrophic aerobic counts aimed to determine the best cleaning, sanitizing and packaging treatment. The results indicated that the best treatment was the second one, in which the vegetables were cleaned, sanitized in a chlorinated solution and stored in rigid plastic packaging under refrigeration. It suggests for future studies the analysis of the influence of packaging with modified atmosphere on the storage of salads.