Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Contamination Sources
Portals of Entry
Spray irrigation
Leaves
Seeds
Stomatas
Trichomes Wounds
Hydathodes Fungi
Protozoa
Flowers Insects
Nectarthods Nematodes
Floral tubes
Drip irrigation
Manure
Preharvest
Fungi
Protozoa
Insects
Nematodes
Fruits
Lenticels
Mechanical handling
Cutting
Trimming
Coring
Wounds
Bruises
Harvest
Stem scar
Cooling
Ice
Vacuum
Calyx
Human handling
Processing
Conveying
Fluming
Shredding
Dicing
Drying
Cut surfaces
Bruises
Postharvest
Stem scar
Calyx
Mechanical damage
Human handling
Figure 3.1.
Modes of transmission and portals of entry for bacterial pathogens in
fruits and vegetables.
is a common means of specifi city. Colonizing bacteria develop biofi lms and promote
plant-bacteria interactions via cell-cell communication. When present on fresh produce,
these biofi lms that can harbor foodborne pathogens are typically more diffi cult to
remove (Fig. 3.2) (Fett 2000) and provide a protective barrier, thereby decreasing the
effi cacy of sanitizers (Morris and Monier 2003; Zottola 1994).
Impact of Plant Stress on Internalization
Plants stressed by drought, temperature extremes, insect infestations, and other adverse
growing/environmental conditions become weakened (Marcais and Breda 2006) and
