POTENTIAL INOCULUM SOURCES FOR DECAY OF FRESH-CUT CELERY

Bacteria responsible for decay of precut celery (Apium graveolens) app ear to be residents on the plants at harvest. Bacterial genera isolate d from equipment in a fresh celery packinghouse were similar to those found on plants sampled at the packinghouse entrance. Population densi ties and array of genera were highest on unwashed plants, whereas cert ain genera were no longer detected on the washed plants. Fluorescent P seudomonas spp. predominated, but strains of Pantoea agglomerans (= Er winia herbicola), Enterobacter agglomerans, Aeromonas, Arthrobacter, a nd Aureobacterium were frequently isolated. Members of the coliform gr oup such as Citrobacter, Klebsiella, and Escherichia were rare.