Occurrence and Accumulation of Human Enteric Viruses and Phages in Process Water from the Fresh Produce Industry
Enric Cuevas-Ferrando,
Ana Allende,
Alba Pérez-Cataluña,
Pilar Truchado,
Natalia Hernández,
Maria Isabel Gil,
Gloria Sánchez
Affiliations
Enric Cuevas-Ferrando
Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, 46980 Valencia, Spain
Ana Allende
Research Group on Microbiology and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Alba Pérez-Cataluña
Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, 46980 Valencia, Spain
Pilar Truchado
Research Group on Microbiology and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Natalia Hernández
Research Group on Microbiology and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Maria Isabel Gil
Research Group on Microbiology and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Gloria Sánchez
Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, 46980 Valencia, Spain
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.
