Credit: University of Córdoba
Strawberry production is one of the driving forces in the Spanish agriculture sector, as strawberries are highly valued for their organoleptic characteristics and health benefits. These two factors, their economic relevance, and the value that consumers assign them, make this fruit an object of scientific research from multiple perspectives, including that of food safety. A research project headed by Liliana Pérez-Lavalle, Elena Carrasco, Pedro Vallesquino-Laguna, Manuel Cejudo, Guiomar Denisse Posada and Antonio Valero has aimed to evaluate whether the Salmonella Thompson bacteria, one of the pathogens that can contaminate the fruit through sewage and/or the soil, could penetrate through the roots of strawberry plants (specifically, the 'San Andreas' variety) and reach the fruit.