Over a 14-day storage period, the electrostatic spaying technique had the greatest decontaminating effect. While inorganic treatments demonstrated promising effects, these were lower in comparison and affected the colour of the produce.
Study author Navam S Hettiarachchy said that although electrostatic spraying is currently used in agriculture for pesticide and fertiliser application, it is not commercially used for fresh produce sanitation.
"But this is an emerging technology to be used in food production and hopefully the food industry will use it," he added.
This study was conducted by Vijayalakshmi Ganesh, Navam S Hettiarachchy, Carl L. Griffis, Elizabeth M. Martin, and Steven C Ricke.
