Project Number: 1935-41420-011-06
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Feb 01, 2007
End Date: Aug 31, 2009

Objective:
The overall goals of the project are to establish the degree of efficacy of chlorine dioxide gas applications in disinfecting fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy vegetables, to establish the point of dose-dependent injury to fresh quality and shelf-life so that such injury can be avoided, and to further improve, extend and transfer treatment application methods to end-users so that adoption of a commercially feasible process becomes possible. Our anticipated outcome is a single-step intervention that contributes a pathogen reduction level in excess of 3 logs (99.9%) to diverse handling systems.

Approach:
1. Determine a preliminary injury threshold of chlorine dioxide gas treatments for a range of lettuce types and other leafy green vegetables. 2. Design chambers for continuous application of above treatments that maximize exposure of leaf surfaces to the antimicrobial agents and provide for accurate control of treatment parameters and environmental conditions. 3. Evaluate pilot-scale treatment systems to demonstrate technical and economic feasibility.