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. Blanching 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 10(6) CFU/g. Vegetative microorganisms survived this blanching process (10-fold greater in number than the spore count), presumably because they were located beneath the surface of the cucumber. The sensitivity to heat of selected populations was measured by determining D values for pooled microorganisms (termed D values) isolated from fresh cucumbers. The Enterobacteriaceae population and the total aerobic microflora had similar D-p values to each other and to the D value for a selected lactic acid bacterium.