ArticleMicrobiology spectrum2026
Commercial washing and storage over shelf life impact bacterial communities more than the fungal communities on baby spinach.
Article in Microbiology spectrum, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Many types of minimally processed fresh produce, including baby spinach, are sensitive to microbial spoilage and other defects that influence quality and consumer acceptance. However, there is limited understanding of how various growing, processing, and storage practices can influence the composition of bacterial and fungal communities on leafy greens, including the proliferation of spoilage microorganisms. Baby spinach samples obtained from a single supply chain at various stages of the produce supply chain (i.e., after harvest and after commercial washing, packaging, and storage) over 1 year were analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA and internal transcribed spacer amplicon sequencing to assess changes in the bacterial and fungal microbiota. Our data showed that there were significant differences in the bacterial and fungal community composition of Harvest samples associated with (i) the geographic area where the spinach was grown and (ii) seasonality (i.e., time since the start of the growing season). After commercial washing and during storage, IMPORTANCE: While spoilage of leafy greens can be influenced by a variety of factors, the limited understanding of how microbial communities change throughout the various stages of the produce supply chain remains a barrier to identifying factors that drive baby spinach spoilage. Additionally, many studies focus solely on the bacterial community, leaving gaps in understanding how the fungal community is impacted by processing and storage conditions. The findings of this study deepen our understanding of how the bacterial and fungal communities on baby spinach are influenced by both (i) preharvest factors (i.e., growing region and seasonality) and (ii) postharvest factors (i.e., commercial washing/packaging and storage over shelf life). This research deepens our understanding of the variation of the microbial composition of leafy greens and specifically suggests the potential value of spoilage mitigation efforts that target specific
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.