Abstract:
King coconut water (KCW) is a sweet relish product that is more prone to rapid quality deterioration, and several safety concerns are
emerging due to its inappropriate thermal processing. (erefore, the objective of this study was to identify the potential spoilage/
pathogenic microorganisms associated with the processing of KCW, with the assessment of possible physicochemical changes as
providing preliminary information required for the thermal process validation of bottled KCW. Samples (n� 6, 150 ml/sample) were
collected from three different KCW processing facilities at five critical processing steps (P1 − P5). A facility survey, physicochemical
analyses, and microbial enumeration and isolation, along with their molecular identifications, were conducted. It was found that all
tested physicochemical properties were significantly changed (p < 0.05) among sampling points at each processing facility.(ecolour of
thermally processed KCW samples has significantly changed (p < 0.05) compared to the fresh KCW, which causes a distinct effect on
the appealing quality of the final product. A pattern of initial lower counts with gradually increased microbial counts at intermediate
processing steps (1.0 ×103–5.3×106 CFU/ml) and significantly lowered (p < 0.05) counts after thermal treatment was observed. Among
the bacterial and fungal isolates identified, several potential pathogenic bacterial species, such as Pantoea dispersa, Bacillus siamensis,
Pseudomonas stutzeri, and Acinetobacter lactucae; a few thermal resistant yeasts, Pichia kudriavzevii, Debaryomyces nepalensis, and
Candida carpophila; and moulds, Penicillium citrinum, Microdochium fisheri, and Trichosporon asahii, have survived in the thermally
processed KCW. Based on the results of the study, it is suggested that the thermal process validation of KCW should be targeted
according to the revealed knowledge on the identified hazardous microorganisms, while adhering to Good Manufacturing and Hygienic
Practices with minimized handling time to avoid rapid quality deterioration.
