The effect of electrolyzed water on decontamination, germination and γ-aminobutyric acid accumulation of brown rice

Electrolyzed functional water (EFW) possesses broad spectrum antimicrobial activity, and is harmless to the environment and humans. In this research EFW used in germinated brown rice (GBR) production instead of tap water. The effects of the EFW on microbial growth and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content; and the effects of available chlorine concentration (ACC) and presoaking and ultrasonic pretreatment in alkaline electrolyzed water (AlEW) on GABA accumulation during germination were studied. The results showed that presoaking and ultrasonic treatment of brown rice (BR) in AlEW can significantly enhance the antimicrobial activity of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), resulting in plate count reductions of 2.89 and 3.75 log cfu/g for strong and slightly AEW treatments, respectively, compared with tap water. The AEW achieved better promotion of GBR growth and GABA accumulation than AlEW. A statistical analysis showed that the GABA content was significantly positively correlated with GBR sprout length. The main finding of this study indicates that AEW is effective at reducing the microbial load on BR and enhances the growth and GABA accumulation of GBR.