• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2022

Recently, the purchase of fresh-cut produce and meal kits has increased. Ready-to-eat (RTE) fresh-cut products have potentially hazard of cross-contamination of various microorganisms in the processes of peeling, slicing, dicing, and shredding. There are frequent cases of protozoa food poisoning, such as Cyclospora and Cryptosporidium, caused by fresh-cut products. The objective of the study is to investigate the microbiological qualities of various types of RTE fresh-cut products in the domestic on/offline markets. RTE fresh-cut fruits cup (n=100), fresh-cut vegetables (n=50), and vegetables in meal kits (Vietnamese spring rolls and white radish rolls kits, n=50) were seasonally analyzed. The contamination levels of hygienic indicator organisms, yeast and mold (YM), and foodborne pathogens (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157:H7) were monitored. Overall, the lowest microbiological qualities of meal kits vegetables were observed, followed by RTE fresh-cut fruits cup and fresh-cut vegetables. Contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and YM in meal kits vegetables were 5.91, 3.90, and 4.71 logs CFU/g, respectively. From the qualitative analysis, 6 out of 200 RTE fresh-cut products (3%) returned positive result for S. aureus. From the quantitative analysis, the contamination levels of S. aureus in purple cabbage from a meal-kit and fresh-cut pineapple were below the acceptable limit (100 CFU/g). Staphylococcus enterotoxin seg and sei genes were detected in RTE fresh-cut celery and red cabbage from meal-kits, respectively. S. aureus contamination must be carefully controlled during the manufacturing processes of RTE fresh-cut products. Neither Cyclospora cayetanensis nor Cryptosporidium parvum was detected in the samples of RTE fresh-cut products and vegetables from meal-kits from the Korean retail markets.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.412-420
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• 2001

This study was conducted to identify the optimum cooking method and the ideal composition of Wax gourd Jung Kwa for the purpose of wide distribution. Wax gourd Jung Kwa was made by peeling off the wax gourd, digging out the stuff, slicing, soaking the pieces in ash water, and boiling slightly, then boiling down in honey, grain syrup. sugar, etc. As a result of sensory evaluation, the best color of Jung Kwa was observed in the recipe of pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre and grain syrup 495$m\ell$; for the flavor, hardness and chewiness, Pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre, corn syrup 475$m\ell$ and sugar 70g; for the adhesiveness, pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre and corn syrup 515$m\ell$; for the sweetness, pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 600$m\ell$ and sugar 90g and honey 120g. Overall Qualify was the highest in the recipe of pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre, com syrup 475$m\ell$ and sugar 70g, of which the sweetness was 74%. There were significant differences in all items (P＜0.05). For mechanical characteristics, the maximum cutting force was the highest in the samples with the recipe of pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre, corn syrup 475$m\ell$ and sugar 70g, and there were significant differences among all items (P<0.05). The highest moisture content, 45.54%, was observed in the recipe of pretreated wax gourd 300g. water 1 litre and corn syrup 475$m\ell$. There were significant differences among all items (P＜0.05). The L value(lightness) was the highest in the recipe of pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre, corn syrup 475 $m\ell$ and sugar 50g. The a value(redness) was the highest in the case of pretreated wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre, com syrup 475$m\ell$ and sugar 70g, which was almost red; and the b value(yellowness), wax gourd 300g, water 1 litre and corn syrup 475g, which gave almost Yellow color. Taking consideration of the above results, the most desirable recipe for wax gourd Jung Kwa was to mix the 300g of pretreated wax gourd with 20g of ash powder, boil them slightly for 2 min, soak them in cold water for 1 hour, and boil them down with 475$m\ell$ of com syrup, 70g of sugar, and 1 litre of water for 5 hours, resulting in the sweetness of 74%. The samples with above recipe were the best in flavor, chewiness and hardness in sensory evaluation, and showed the highest maximum cutting force and nearest red color in the mechanical test.