The carrot production on a large scale in the region of Rio Paranaiba places the region in a prominent position on the national scene. However, it is reported that a significant amount of scraps occurs after harvest. The use of discarded material in the food chain can be realized by minimal processing, as an alternative of adding value. A sanitization step is very important during the production of minimally processed vegetables. In this context, this research aimed to study the antimicrobial effect of silver nanoparticles in the sanitization of minimal processing carrot from discarded carrot harvested at Rio Paranaiba city, as well as study the thermodynamics adhesion for different bacterial strains in sanitized carrot surface. It was observed that silver nanoparticles (6mg L-1) showed good results when was compared to sodium hypochlorite (100mg L-1) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (150mg L-1) in reducing populations of aerobic mesophilic microorganism;Pseudomonas spp. lactic acid bacteria and coliforms at 35ºC present in carrot. It was also found that the surface of carrot has hydrophilic characteristics which can prevent bacterial adhesion. This fact was confirmed that thermodynamic evaluation of adhesion that was unfavorable for Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua, and more thermodynamically unfavorable for interactions involving carrot surfaces sanitized with silver nanoparticles.
vegetable; silver nanoparticles; free energy of bacterial adhesion; hydrophobicity
