Abstract
Human norovirus (HuNoV) is a pathogenic agent that is frequently associated with foodborne disease outbreaks linked to fresh produce. Within microgreen production systems, understanding of virus transmission routes and persistence is limited. To investigate virus persistence on microgreen leaf surfaces, this study mimicked virus contaminations caused during microgreen handling by farm workers or during overhead irrigation with contaminated water. Specifically, approximately 5 log PFU of Tulane virus (TV)—a HuNoV surrogate—was inoculated on sunflower (SF) and pea shoot (PS) microgreen leaves at 7-day age. The virus reduction on SF was significantly higher than PS (p < 0.05). On day 10, total TV reduction for SF and PS were 3.70 ± 0.10 and 2.52 ± 0.30 log PFU/plant, respectively. Under the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) observation, the leaf surfaces of SF were visually smoother than PS, while their specific effect on virus persistence were not further characterized. Overall, this study revealed that TV persistence on microgreen leaves was plant variety dependent. In addition, this study provided a preliminary estimation on the risk of HuNoV contamination in a microgreen production system which will aim the future development of prevention and control measures.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. Adam Baker for his assistance with ESEM as well as reviewing the manuscript. We also thank Dr. Stanley Flegler at Michigan State University for his guidance on the appropriate preparation of our samples for SEM imaging.
Funding
This research was supported by a University of Arkansas Graduate Professional Student Congress Research Council Research Grant received by Wenjun Deng. This work was also supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Hatch Act Funding.
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Conceptualization, WD and KEG; Methodology, WD and KEG; Formal Analysis, WD; Investigation, WD; Resources, KEG; Writing—Original Draft, WD; Writing—Reviewing and Editing, WD and KEG; Visualization, WD; Supervision, KEG; Funding Acquisition, KEG.
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Deng, W., Gibson, K.E. Microgreen Variety Impacts Leaf Surface Persistence of a Human Norovirus Surrogate. Food Environ Virol 15, 82–88 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-022-09536-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-022-09536-x