Evaluation of the fungicidal activity against food-borne fungi of slightly acidic electrolyzed water

Abstract

Numerous fungi are inhabited around the food and food manufacturing environment. Such fungi usually adhere to the surface of the food and the container of the manufacturing environment. To minimize fungal damage of food and manufacturing environments, physical and/or chemical countermeasures should be set. In this article, slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) with pH 6.0 and 30 mg/L of available chlorine concentration, i.e. slightly acidic hypochlorous acid water, was examined for its fungicidal activity against 30 strains of food-borne fungi (30 species belonging to 23 genera) that are popular in food manufacturing environment. Consequently, it turned out that SAEW showed effective fungicidal activity against various food-borne fungi, especially strains of Penicillium and Cladosporium known as popular food-damaging fungi.