Spadafora, Natasha D., Paramithiotis, Spiros, Drosinos, Eleftherios H., Cammarisano, Laura, Rogers, Hilary J. ![]() ![]() |
Preview |
PDF
- Accepted Post-Print Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (926kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Ready-to-eat fresh cut fruits and vegetables are increasingly popular, however due to their minimal processing there is a risk of contamination with human pathogens. Listeria monocytogenes is of particular concern as it can multiply even at the low temperatures used to store fresh cut products pre-sale. Current detection methods rely on culturing, which is time consuming and does not provide results in the time frame required. Growth of bacteria on a substrate alters its chemical composition affecting the profile of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted. Use of VOCs as a detection method has been hampered by lack of sensitivity and robust sample collection methods. Here we use thermal desorption gas chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC-TOF-MS) followed by analysis with PerMANOVA to analyse VOC profiles. We can discriminate between fresh cut melon cubes inoculated with 6 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes and uninoculated controls, as well as melon cubes inoculated with <1 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes stored for 7 days at 4 °C and following equilibration for 6 h at 37 °C. This is a substantial advance in sensitivity compared to previous studies and additionally the collection method used allows remote sampling and transport of the VOCs, greatly facilitating analyses.
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Date Type: | Publication |
Status: | Published |
Schools: | Biosciences |
Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology |
Additional Information: | Available online 27 October 2015 Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0740-0020/ (accessed 30/11/2015) |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
ISSN: | 0740-0020 |
Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 30 March 2016 |
Date of Acceptance: | 25 October 2015 |
Last Modified: | 07 Nov 2023 06:44 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/81355 |
Citation Data
Cited 21 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data
Actions (repository staff only)
![]() |
Edit Item |