Effectiveness evaluation of alternative sanitizers in microbiological quality of strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch Var. Oso Grande) after artificial contamination by Escherichia coli

Abstract Washing and sanitization are considered particularly critical steps for the microbiological quality of fruits. At this stage, it is important to select the sanitizer which must have microbiological effectiveness. In the literature, there is a great interest on alternative sanitizers for microbiological quality control of food. This study aimed at verifying the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite, ozone, ultrasound and citric acid as well as associations of ultrasound to the other techniques mentioned above in the microbiological quality control of strawberries cv. Oso Grande. In thes...