COMPARING THE EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRO ACTIVATED ALKALINE WATER ON FOOD CONTACT SURFACE USING DIFFERENT MINERAL SALTS

Surface sanitation is crucial in food industry facilities to prevent the growth and spread of harmful microorganisms that can lead to foodborne illnesses. Alkaline electrolyzed water (ALEW) has emerged as an effective antibacterial agent for surface disinfection, leveraging its high pH and the presence of reactive species like hypochloric acid to eliminate pathogens. Therefore, the current study was planned to evaluate the antibacterial potency of sodium chloride (NaCl), magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)-derived ALEW (pH 10±2) as a surface sanitizer against E. coli and S. aureus. For this goal, stainless steel plates were contaminated with E. coli and S. aureus strains (nearly counted 4 log CFU/cm2), followed by application of ALEW for 15 minutes followed by recording the post-treatment counts. Referring to the obtained results, application of ALEW of different salts revealed significant reductions in both of S. aureus and E. coli mean counts. The obtained results revealed superiority of NaCl-derived EW over NaHCO3 and MgCl2, respectively. Moreover, S. aureus was more resistant to the used EW than E. coli, where higher reductions were recorded in E. coli treated groups. Significant reductions in the bacterial counts were recorded with reductions of 76.1 and 82.2, 65.2 and 71.1, 69.6 and 75.6%; with mean reduction (log CFU/cm2) of 3.6 and 3.7, 3.0 and 3.2, 3.2 and 3.5 for S. aureus and E. coli treated groups with NaCl, MgCl2, and NaHCO3-derived ALEW, respectively. Application of ALEW showed potential chance for its usage as potent sanitizer in food processing contact surfaces.