Fresh vegetables are important components of an everyday balanced diet making ready to-eat-salads (RTE) a commodity widely consumed. However, in the past few years these products have been linked with outbreaks of salmonellosis and listeriosis; thus the continuous investigation of their safety is an essential requirement. A total of 216 samples of ready-to-eat salads from the Cypriot market were analysed to determine the microbiological quality and safety, along with physicochemical attributes of the salads and identify possible correlations between them. The samples were randomly collected from four retail outlets and correspond to five different salad producing companies. Furthermore, the effects of season, salad producer and type of salad and/or their interactions with the tested parameters were investigated. The results revealed that the higher microbial load among seasons was observed in samples collected during spring. Escherichia coli was found in 11.57% of samples and 2.62% of isolates were found to be able to produce extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL). All samples were found negative for Salmonella enterica, whereas Listeria monocytogenes was present in 3.70% of samples. Higher levels of spoilage bacteria (lactic acid bacteria and Pseudomonas spp.) were detected during winter and spring. Additionally, the %CO production was affected by the type of salad, while the interaction between producer and type of salad, affected total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of samples. A positive correlation of phenols and antioxidants with the presence of Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., E. coli and Bacillus cereus was observed, suggesting that excessive handling increases microbial load and plant stress.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Its post-harvest deterioration leads to a limited shelf-life up to 5-7 days. To avoid such loss, the present study investigates the potential effect of starch glucose (SG) coating on the extension of its shelf-life, after harvest. 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 µM of starch with 2.5 µM D-glucose solutions were coated over freshly harvested cucumbers and stored at refrigerated temperature (±4 °C) for 30 days. 1.5 µM starch plus 2.5 µM D-glucose displayed significantly better results as per the skin colour and sensory evaluation test. This level of SG coating extended the shelf-life of cucumbers up to 30 days with least reduction in weight loss, total soluble sugar, protein, catalase activity, peroxidase activity and increased in proline content, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl antioxidant activities and ferrous ion chelating activities.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Composite films comprising modified corn starch and gelatin were developed using a solvent casting technique. The effect of varied content of citric acid and gelatin on the functional properties of the corn starch and composite films, respectively, was investigated. Modified corn starch films enriched with 5% citric acid presented excellent film properties like solubility, swelling index, water vapor permeability, and mechanical property as compared to other films. Similarly, composite films enriched with a ratio (4:1) also exhibited excellent film properties like mechanical and opacity than other composite films. FTIR results confirmed the cross linking among the modified corn starch chains, which is responsible for the enhancement in the film properties. From SEM results, it was noticed that the modified corn starch films exhibited slightly rougher, less shiny than the composite films. Efficacy of the composite solution as a coating formulation in terms of the quality and shelf life of the cucumber investigated. From the results, it was noted that the composite film forming solution as a coating formulation has the potential to extend the shelf-life of the cucumbers additionally up to 16 days.© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2020.