Effectiveness of lemon juice, vinegar and their mixture in the elimination of Salmonella typhimurium on carrots (Daucus carota L.)

Lemon juice, vinegar and the mixture of lemon juice and vinegar (1: 1) were tested for their effectiveness in reducing the counts of inoculated Salmonella typhimurium (approximately 6 and 3 log cfu/g) on carrots. Treatment of carrot samples with lemon juice vinegar alone for different exposure times (0, 15, 30 and 60 min) caused significant reductions ranging between 0.79-3.95 and 1.57-3.58 log cfu/g, respectively, while the number of pathogens was reduced to an undetectable level after 30-min treatment by combined used lemon juice vinegar. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.