title: Shoot Injury Increases the Level of Persistence of Salmonella enterica Serovar Sofia and Listeria innocua on Cos Lettuce and of Salmonella enterica Serovar Sofia on Chive.
abstract: Minor shoot injury significantly (P < 0.05) increased the level at which Salmonella enterica serovar Sofia persisted on cos lettuce in the greenhouse. Initial mean counts of the Salmonella on the injured and uninjured cos lettuce were on the order of 6 log CFU/g. After 3 days, the mean count decreased to 4.8 log CFU/g on the injured plants compared with the significantly (P < 0.05) smaller count of 3.4 log CFU/g on the uninjured plants. By the end of the 3-week experiment, the count from the injured plants was 2.9 log CFU/g compared with a count of below the level of detection from the uninjured plants. A similar pattern of bacterial persistence was observed on injured versus uninjured plants by using Listeria innocua on cos lettuce and S. enterica serovar Sofia on chive. The findings reaffirm earlier results with Escherichia coli and increase the impetus to avoid shoot injury during the production of cos lettuce and chive, if bacteria of food safety concern are present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia. dean.hararapas@ecodev.vic.gov.au.
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harapas
authors.affiliation: Global F.S. Pty. Ltd., Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Premier
authors.affiliation: Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tomkins
authors.affiliation: Statistical Consulting Centre, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hepworth
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Said
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ajlouni
mesh_terms: D027782:Chive / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018545:Lactuca / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D008087:Listeria / Q000254:growth & development*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000254:growth & development*; D065288:Serogroup