Reduction of microflora of whole pickling cucumbers by blanching

There is increasing interest in developing methods to control the presence of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms on fresh fruits and vegetables. B lanching whole pickling cucumbers for 15 s at 80 degreesC reduced microbial cell counts by 2 to 3 log cycles from an initial population of typically 1 0(6) CFU/g. Vegetative microorganisms survived this blanching process (10-f old greater in number than the spore count), presumably because they were l ocated beneath the surface of the cucumber. The sensitivity to heat of sele cted populations was measured by determining D values for pooled microorgan isms (termed D values) isolated from fresh cucumbers. The Enterobacteriacea e population and the total aerobic microflora had similar D-p values to eac h other and to the D value for a selected lactic acid bacterium.