Changes in the quality of leafy vegetables and wash water in a system employing wash-water recycle

Abstract

A modified leafy-vegetable immersion washer employing wash-water recycle was tested and evaluated as part of the processing operation at Exmore Foods, Exmore, Virginia. Water constituents and characteristics that were evaluated included BOD, COD, TSS, VSS, pH, color, conductivity, turbidity, and total chlorine residual. Four trial runs were made when collards were washed and a fifth was made when spinach was processed. Comparisons made between the magnitudes of water constituents at each site within the washer system, between different crops of collards, and between collards and spinach indicated that the washer system worked well. Furthermore, the data revealed that there were distinct differences between different crops of collards, that spinach was dirtier than collards, that additions of chlorine were necessary to reduce bacterial growth, and that the foaming actions of surfactants in the wash water helped to further clean the greens.