Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Publications
Campus Units
Food Science and Human Nutrition, Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Horticulture, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-6-2017
Journal or Book Title
Water
Volume
9
Issue
1
First Page
27
DOI
10.3390/w9010027
Abstract
Few microbial studies in aquaponics, a growing trend in food production, have been conducted to determine food safety status. The aim of this study was to determine the food safety status and the effectiveness of ultraviolet treatment (15 W, luminous flux of 900 lm) as a food safety intervention in reducing the microbial loads of the water system in a model aquaponic unit growing lettuce, basil, and barramundi (Australian Sea Bass). Sweet basil, bibb lettuce, water samples, and fish swabs were collected throughout the 118-day production period, and microbial analysis was conducted in triplicate for the presence of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and the prevalence of aerobic plate counts (APC), coliforms, and fecal coliforms in these systems. Absence of foodborne pathogens was confirmed using ELISA technology and enumeration through petrifilms (coliform/E. coli). A significant increase was observed in aerobic plate counts over the trial period (1 to 3 log10 CFU·mL−1) in the presence and absence of UV (p > 0.05). Ultraviolet treatment did not significantly reduce the APC or coliform counts when compared to the control system samples. Future work should focus on improving the unit design, the evaluation of bio-solid filtration, and other food safety interventions.
Access
Open
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Owner
The authors
Copyright Date
2017
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Elumalai, Sai Deepikaa; Shaw, Angela M.; Pattillo, D. Allen; Currey, Christopher J.; Rosentrater, Kurt A.; and Xie, Kun, "Influence of UV Treatment on the Food Safety Status of a Model Aquaponic System" (2017). Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Publications. 787.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/abe_eng_pubs/787
Included in
Agriculture Commons, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Horticulture Commons
Comments
This article is from Water 2017, 9(1), 27; doi:10.3390/w9010027. Posted with permission.