Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch
Ground covers are used in produce production to enhance plant growth and control diseases and pests. While various factors are considered when selecting commercial ground covers, food safety, particularly the survival of foodborne pathogens, is often overlooked. This study aimed to assess the surviv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Food Protection |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2400228X |
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| author | Alyssa A. Rosenbaum Claire M. Murphy Annette L. Wszelaki Alexis M. Hamilton Steven L. Rideout Laura K. Strawn |
| author_facet | Alyssa A. Rosenbaum Claire M. Murphy Annette L. Wszelaki Alexis M. Hamilton Steven L. Rideout Laura K. Strawn |
| author_sort | Alyssa A. Rosenbaum |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ground covers are used in produce production to enhance plant growth and control diseases and pests. While various factors are considered when selecting commercial ground covers, food safety, particularly the survival of foodborne pathogens, is often overlooked. This study aimed to assess the survival of Salmonella on different ground covers, including biodegradable mulch, landscape fabric, and plastic mulch. New rolls of each ground cover were cut to fit a 100 × 15 mm petri dish and spot inoculated with a seven-strain Salmonella cocktail at approximately 6 log CFU/cm2. The inoculated coupons were stored in a climate-controlled chamber (23°C, 55% relative humidity) and sampled at 0, 0.06 (1.5 h), 0.17 (4 h), 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 30, 60, 90, and 140 days postinoculation (dpi). If counts dropped below the detection limit (<0.12 log CFU/cm2), enrichments were performed following the Food and Drug Administration’s Bacteriological Analytical Manual Salmonella protocol. Salmonella survived 140 dpi on all tested ground covers, with reductions >5 log CFU/cm2. Survival rates at 140 dpi were highest on landscape fabric (83%, 25/30) followed by plastic mulch (50%, 15/30) and biodegradable mulch (13%, 4/30) coupons (p < 0.05). During the first 30 dpi, biodegradable mulch exhibited the smallest reduction in Salmonella (2.47 ± 0.26 log CFU/cm2), compared to landscape fabric (3.07 ± 0.30 log CFU/cm2) and plastic mulch (3.86 ± 0.72 log CFU/cm2). After 60 dpi, Salmonella reductions stabilized across all materials (∼4 log CFU/cm2) and by 90 dpi, no significant differences were observed between ground cover types (p > 0.05). Although Salmonella survival varied among ground covers in the short-term (0–30 dpi), a >5 log CFU/cm2 reduction of Salmonella was observed among all materials by 140 dpi. Findings suggest that ground cover material influences Salmonella survival and should be factored into food safety risk management strategies, especially when ground covers are reused. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cfe52ae509064fd4885f8c7af6b58b36 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0362-028X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Food Protection |
| spelling | doaj-art-cfe52ae509064fd4885f8c7af6b58b362025-02-02T05:26:42ZengElsevierJournal of Food Protection0362-028X2025-02-01882100444Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic MulchAlyssa A. Rosenbaum0Claire M. Murphy1Annette L. Wszelaki2Alexis M. Hamilton3Steven L. Rideout4Laura K. Strawn5Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USASchool of Food Science, Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser, Washington, USADepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USADepartment of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USASchool of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USADepartment of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, 1230 Washington Street, SW, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.Ground covers are used in produce production to enhance plant growth and control diseases and pests. While various factors are considered when selecting commercial ground covers, food safety, particularly the survival of foodborne pathogens, is often overlooked. This study aimed to assess the survival of Salmonella on different ground covers, including biodegradable mulch, landscape fabric, and plastic mulch. New rolls of each ground cover were cut to fit a 100 × 15 mm petri dish and spot inoculated with a seven-strain Salmonella cocktail at approximately 6 log CFU/cm2. The inoculated coupons were stored in a climate-controlled chamber (23°C, 55% relative humidity) and sampled at 0, 0.06 (1.5 h), 0.17 (4 h), 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 30, 60, 90, and 140 days postinoculation (dpi). If counts dropped below the detection limit (<0.12 log CFU/cm2), enrichments were performed following the Food and Drug Administration’s Bacteriological Analytical Manual Salmonella protocol. Salmonella survived 140 dpi on all tested ground covers, with reductions >5 log CFU/cm2. Survival rates at 140 dpi were highest on landscape fabric (83%, 25/30) followed by plastic mulch (50%, 15/30) and biodegradable mulch (13%, 4/30) coupons (p < 0.05). During the first 30 dpi, biodegradable mulch exhibited the smallest reduction in Salmonella (2.47 ± 0.26 log CFU/cm2), compared to landscape fabric (3.07 ± 0.30 log CFU/cm2) and plastic mulch (3.86 ± 0.72 log CFU/cm2). After 60 dpi, Salmonella reductions stabilized across all materials (∼4 log CFU/cm2) and by 90 dpi, no significant differences were observed between ground cover types (p > 0.05). Although Salmonella survival varied among ground covers in the short-term (0–30 dpi), a >5 log CFU/cm2 reduction of Salmonella was observed among all materials by 140 dpi. Findings suggest that ground cover material influences Salmonella survival and should be factored into food safety risk management strategies, especially when ground covers are reused.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2400228XDie-OffGround CoversPersistencePreharvestProduce Safety |
| spellingShingle | Alyssa A. Rosenbaum Claire M. Murphy Annette L. Wszelaki Alexis M. Hamilton Steven L. Rideout Laura K. Strawn Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch Journal of Food Protection Die-Off Ground Covers Persistence Preharvest Produce Safety |
| title | Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch |
| title_full | Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch |
| title_fullStr | Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch |
| title_full_unstemmed | Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch |
| title_short | Survival of Salmonella on Biodegradable Mulch, Landscape Fabric, and Plastic Mulch |
| title_sort | survival of salmonella on biodegradable mulch landscape fabric and plastic mulch |
| topic | Die-Off Ground Covers Persistence Preharvest Produce Safety |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2400228X |
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