# Ready-to-Use Vegetable Salads: Physicochemical and Microbiological Evaluation
## 3 Results and Discussion
[50] in 12 samples (ready-to-use vegetables like alfalfa sprout, spinach and mixed salad samples; carrot and curly entive), while _Salmonella_ was detected in mixed salads. [PERSON] et al. [49] reported that _Salmonella_ was isolated from 1 out of 20 ready-to-use salad samples (5%). _Escherichia coli_ was identified in three ready-to-use vegetable samples: 3L (4 log CFU/g), 5L and 1K (4.3 log CFU/g), all exceeding the allowed limit. In this study, _Escherichia coli_ was detected in 3 out of 17 ready-to-use vegetable salads (17.6%), while [PERSON] et al. [49] detected _Escherichia coli_ in \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Total Number of Germs**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Yeasts and Molds**} & \multirow{2}{*}{_Staphylococci (ST)_} & \multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} _Enterobacteriaceae_ \\ **(EB)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{**Total Coliforms (TC)**} \\  & **(TNSGs)** & & & & \\ \hline
1L & 5.61 \(\pm\) 0.02 g & 4.56 \(\pm\) 0.07 a & - & - & 6.03 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
2L & 5.48 \(\pm\) 0.06 hi & 4.42 \(\pm\) 0.10 a & - & - & 6.12 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
3L & 5.42 \(\pm\) 0.03 i & 4.82 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & - & 5.28 \(\pm\) 0.02 d & 6.07 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
4L & 5.78 \(\pm\) 0.01 i & 2.67 \(\pm\) 2.31 a & 2.67 \(\pm\) 2.31 bc & 4.67 \(\pm\) 0.06 e & 6.09 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
5L & 5.54 \(\pm\) 0.02 gh & 5.48 \(\pm\) 0.01 a & - & 6.03 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
1K & 5.46 \(\pm\) 0.01 hi & 4.94 \(\pm\) 0.03 a & 1.33 \(\pm\) 2.31 c & 4.50 \(\pm\) 0.17 e & 6.39 \(\pm\) 0.01 a \\
2K & 5.56 \(\pm\) 0.01 gh & 4.80 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & 4.1 \(\pm\) 0.17 ab & 4.75 \(\pm\) 0.08 e & 6.37 \(\pm\) 0.01 a \\
3K & 5.50 \(\pm\) 0.03 hi & 4.00 \(\pm\) 0.00 a & 4.97 \(\pm\) 1.29 ab & 4.16 \(\pm\) 0.28 f & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.02 a \\
4K & 5.62 \(\pm\) 0.02 g & 2.77 \(\pm\) 2.40 a & 5.97 \(\pm\) 0.80 a & - & 6.01 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
5K & 5.80 \(\pm\) 0.00 i & 5.17 \(\pm\) 0.02 a & 3.32 \(\pm\) 2.87 b & - & 6.01 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\
1A & 7.47 \(\pm\) 0.03 d & - & - & 6.56 \(\pm\) 0.03 a & 5.66 \(\pm\) 0.10 ab \\
2A & 7.59 \(\pm\) 0.03 c & - & - & 6.35 \(\pm\) 0.06 ab & 5.52 \(\pm\) 0.07 e \\
3A & 8.12 \(\pm\) 0.01 a & - & - & 6.04 \(\pm\) 0.04 c & 5.46 \(\pm\) 0.15 e \\
4A & 7.88 \(\pm\) 0.03 b & - & - & 6.40 \(\pm\) 0.09 ab & 5.50 \(\pm\) 0.17 e \\
1P & 8.09 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & - & - & 6.26 \(\pm\) 0.01 bc & 5.00 \(\pm\) 0.00 f \\
2P & 7.17 \(\pm\) 0.09 e & - & - & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.10 bc & 5.75 \(\pm\) 0.05 cd \\
3P & 7.83 \(\pm\) 0.04 b & - & - & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.03 ab & 5.94 \(\pm\) 0.03 bc \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Microbial counts of the ready-to-use salads (in log CFU/g). Values with the different letters within one column are significantly different (\(p<\) 0.05). 6 out of 20 ready-to-use salad samples (30%). The contamination of vegetables and their degree of deterioration can be indicated by the number of microorganisms, which can also indicate the natural microbiota of the vegetables. Leafy vegetable cleaning is a crucial stage since they cannot be subjected to thermal treatment [3]. Control of microorganisms on leafy vegetables offers far fewer technologies than most other food categories because heat treatments, which are well-developed, are not feasible on vegetable leaves due to the perishability of the crop [51]. Physical methods of controlling microorganisms, in addition to heat treatment, include treatments such as washing, modified atmosphere packaging and radiation-based techniques. Methods such as immersion or running in water, the duration and number of washes, and the use of acetic acid, sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride influence the vegetables' washing process and, implicitly, the removal of microorganisms and nitrite [16; 52]. [PERSON] et al. [52] demonstrated that washing vegetables with sodium hypochlorite can result in a 2-log reduction in _Salmonella_ counts, while a solution of sodium hypochlorite and combined peracetic and perchloric acids can significantly reduce _Listeria_ counts.