Occurrence and Accumulation of Human Enteric Viruses and Phages in Process Water from the Fresh Produce Industry
The virological quality of process water (PW) used by the produce industry has received limited attention. As a first step to overcoming technical limitations in monitoring viruses in PW, the analytical performance of ultrafiltration was assessed to concentrate viral particles from 20 L of spiked PW. The selected method used for sample concentration of PW was carefully validated, thus enabling the accurate quantification and estimation of viral titers of human enteric viruses and phages. PW from the produce industry was collected periodically from the washing tanks of commercial facilities. The analysis of coliphages was performed by plaque assay, while the occurrence of enteric viruses and crAssphage was determined by molecular techniques. Significant differences in the physicochemical composition of PW, mostly due to the different nature of fresh produce types and differences in the sanitizer used in commercial operation, were observed. Accumulation of crAssphage and coliphages was observed in PW, but correlation with human enteric viruses was not possible due to the low prevalence of these pathogens in the PW analyzed. The obtained results showed that depending on the type of product washed, the product/water ratio and the residual concentrations of the sanitizers, the prevalence and concentration of bacteriophages changed significantly.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2021-08-11
|
| Subjects: | Human enteric viruses, Viral indicator, Bacteriophages, Molecular methods, Infectivity, Produce, Wash water, Food safety, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/248767 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100008678 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007801 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004837 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|