Assessment of The efficiency of Electrolyzed Water in Controlling The contamination of Fish Fillets With V. parahaemolyticus

Nowadays, electrolyzed water (EW) is widely identified as a substitute for chemical antimicrobials to decrease microbial contaminations and extend the food shelf life. In this work, tilapia fish fillets that have been intentionally contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus are used to examine the antibacterial effects of slightly acidic (SAEW) and neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) with two amounts of NaCl (0.2% and 0.5%) individually. The study also examines their influence on the quality and sensory properties of tilapia fish and the expression of virulence genes tdh, trh, and toxR using qRT-PCR. Samples of tilapia fish fillets were artificially infected with V. parahaemolyticus, then followed by immersion separately in SAEW and NEW (0.2 % and 0.5 % NaCl) for 2, 5 and 10 minutes at ambient temperature, afterward the samples were retained in a refrigerator at 4±1°C. Results showed that V. parahaemolyticus counts on the 3rd day of storage were reduced with NEW and completely inhibited with SAEW. Additionally, the shelf life of all treated fillet specimens was prolonged to the 7th and 9th day by slowing the deterioration of odor and color compared to the untreated samples, which became unfit for consumption. EW specifically, SAEW containing 0.5% NaCl showed better physicochemical characteristics. There was also a significant decrease in the virulence gene expression between the control untreated and the other treated samples. In conclusion, electrolyzed water can be applied as a sterilizer to improve microbic attributes and increase the shelf life of fish fillets.