Coating with phenolic branched-chain fatty acid reduces Listeria innocua populations on apple fruit

An antimicrobial coating was produced by mixing phenolic branched-chain fatty acid (PBC-FA) with glycerol and a carboxymethyl cellulose solution (CMC) at pH 7. The resulting PBC-FA-CMC solution formed an emulsion with an average droplet size of 77 nm. The emulsion in the coating solution was stable for at least 30 days at 20 °C. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the film formed from the PBC-FA emulsion was tested against a mixture of 3 strains of Listeria innocua (7 log CFU/mL). Film with a concentration of 1000 μg/mL of PBC-FA effectively reduced the population of L. innocua below the limit of detection (