## 4 Conclusions  
Tea polyphenols and thermosonication treatments can effectively reduce the population of _S. enterica_ in fresh-cut wax gourds. The higher concentration of TP, the higher the temperature, and the longer time of TS contributed to better inactivation effects. When the concentration of TP is higher than 1%, the benefit of bacteriostatic effect from the increase of TP concentration is significantly reduced. Therefore, taking energy and material costs into account, the combination of TP (1.0%) and TS (50 \({}^{\circ}\)C, 1 min) followed by storage at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C may be a suitable bacteriostatic scheme for the preservation of fresh-cut wax gourd. TP and TS treatment could lead to the destruction of cell membrane, then the leakage of cytoplasm, and, finally, cell death. ANFIS with the \"gaussmf\" function performed well in the modeling and predicting of the population of _Salmonella_ in fresh-cut wax gourds. It could be easily applied to various situations and provide a powerful tool for modelling and predicting microbe populations and the shelf life of food products. Further efforts are needed to deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanism of TP and TS treatment reducing the population of _S. enterica_ in fresh-cut wax gourds due to the limitations of our instrumental conditions and experimental experience. This study also prompts the need for further research on the potential application and market value of TP and TS treatment. Figure 4: The populations of _Salmonella_ observed in the experiments (log CFU/g) and the populations of _Salmonella_ predicted by ANFIS with gaussmf (log CFU/g) of fresh-cut wax gourd in treated (TP and TS) and control groups during storage at different temperature. (**A**) treated samples stored at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C; (**B**) treated samples stored at 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C; (**C**) treated samples stored at 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C; (**D**) control samples stored at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C; (**E**) control sample stored at 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C; (**F**) control sample stored at 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C. _Salmonella_ populations observed in the experiments were represented as dots (\(\bullet\)); _Salmonella_ populations predicted by ANFIS with gaussmf were represented as solid lines. **Supplementary Materials:** The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13085087/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13085087/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13085087/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13085087/s1)), Figure S1: Firmness of fresh cut wax gourd during storage at different temperature: 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C (A), 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C (B) and 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C (C). Firmness of fresh cut wax gourd treated by different conditions were represent with different colors; Figure S2: Correlation between experimental and predicted _Salmonella_ population in fresh-cut wax guard treated by thermosonication and tea polyphenols during storage using the ANFIS models with different membership functions at training (*) and prediction (\(\Box\)) phases: (A) 'trimf', (B) 'trapmf', (C) 'gbellmf', (D) 'gaussmf', (E) 'gaussmf', (E) 'gaussms2 mf', (F) 'pimf', (G) 'dsigmf', and (H) 'psigmf'. The coefficients of determination (R2) for experimental populations and prediction data of ANFIS models were shown above (prediction phase) and below (training phase) the regression curve in each panel; Figure S3: Output value (ie, predicted _Salmonella_ populations) surface of ANFIS models with different membership functions for TS and TP treated groups. (A) 'trimf', (B) 'trapmf', (C) 'gbellmf', (D) 'gaussmf', (E) 'gaussms2 mf', (F) 'pimf', (G) 'dsigmf', and (H) 'psigmf'. **Author Contributions:** Conceptualization and methodology, Y.M. and G.H. ; formal analysis and investigation, Y.M., H.H. and Y.L. ; writing--review and editing, Y.M. ; project administration, Y.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.