Dishwashing liquids with nuclease and protease: An improved biocompatible solution for the removal of adherent bacteria from fruits and vegetables

Lyudmila Ayzatullina; Sofia Kolyshkina; Elizaveta Patronova; Viktor Filatov; Iva Zadorina; Maya Kharitonova; Mikhail Bogachev; Airat Kayumov; Lyudmila Ayzatullina; Sofia Kolyshkina; Elizaveta Patronova; Viktor Filatov; Iva Zadorina; Maya Kharitonova; Mikhail Bogachev; Airat Kayumov

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2025048

AIMS Microbiology

2025, Volume 11, Issue 4: 1101-1118. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2025048

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Research article

Dishwashing liquids with nuclease and protease: An improved biocompatible solution for the removal of adherent bacteria from fruits and vegetables

1.
Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation
2.
Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnology, Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
3.
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Organization of Pharmaceutical Business, Faculty of Fundamental Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation
4.
Biomedical Engineering Research Centre, St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Received: 02 September 2025 Revised: 21 December 2025 Accepted: 26 December 2025 Published: 29 December 2025

While plant food is an obligate part of human nutrition, vegetables and fruits are often contaminated by adherent foodborne pathogens, in turn requiring biocompatible solutions for their efficient elimination. We report the effect of proteinase (subtilisin) and nuclease (DNAse) additions to the dishwashing liquid for a more efficient removal of adherent bacteria and biofilms from glass surfaces and vegetables. The 15 min treatment with solely 0.06% protease solution decreased preformed biofilms of S. aureus and S. Typhimurium threefold, and treatment with 0.25% nuclease reduced them twofold, respectively. While nuclease itself was of low efficiency, the protease-nuclease mixture (0.06% of each protein) reduced the biomasses of biofilms of these bacteria fourfold, as well as biofilms of E. faecalis, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae twofold. The addition of enzymes to the dishwashing liquid increased the removal of Gram-negative bacteria from the glass 5–10-fold compared to basic liquid. Furthermore, enzymes enhanced the removal of adherent bacteria from lettuce, cucumber, celery, and apple up to 100-fold for S. aureus and E. faecalis and 20-fold for Gram-negative species, respectively, compared to the basic dishwashing liquid, as indicated by CFUs count and qPCR data. These data suggest that protease, both individually and especially in mixture with nuclease, is an attractive additive to dishwashing liquids to provide the removal of up to 99% of adherent bacteria from dishes, fruits, and vegetables.
- dishwashing liquids,
- enzymes,
- nuclease,
- protease,
- biofilm,
- adherent cells,
- bacteria removal,
- vegetables peels and leaves
Citation: Lyudmila Ayzatullina, Sofia Kolyshkina, Elizaveta Patronova, Viktor Filatov, Iva Zadorina, Maya Kharitonova, Mikhail Bogachev, Airat Kayumov. Dishwashing liquids with nuclease and protease: An improved biocompatible solution for the removal of adherent bacteria from fruits and vegetables[J]. AIMS Microbiology, 2025, 11(4): 1101-1118. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2025048

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Abstract

While plant food is an obligate part of human nutrition, vegetables and fruits are often contaminated by adherent foodborne pathogens, in turn requiring biocompatible solutions for their efficient elimination. We report the effect of proteinase (subtilisin) and nuclease (DNAse) additions to the dishwashing liquid for a more efficient removal of adherent bacteria and biofilms from glass surfaces and vegetables. The 15 min treatment with solely 0.06% protease solution decreased preformed biofilms of S. aureus and S. Typhimurium threefold, and treatment with 0.25% nuclease reduced them twofold, respectively. While nuclease itself was of low efficiency, the protease-nuclease mixture (0.06% of each protein) reduced the biomasses of biofilms of these bacteria fourfold, as well as biofilms of E. faecalis, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae twofold. The addition of enzymes to the dishwashing liquid increased the removal of Gram-negative bacteria from the glass 5–10-fold compared to basic liquid. Furthermore, enzymes enhanced the removal of adherent bacteria from lettuce, cucumber, celery, and apple up to 100-fold for S. aureus and E. faecalis and 20-fold for Gram-negative species, respectively, compared to the basic dishwashing liquid, as indicated by CFUs count and qPCR data. These data suggest that protease, both individually and especially in mixture with nuclease, is an attractive additive to dishwashing liquids to provide the removal of up to 99% of adherent bacteria from dishes, fruits, and vegetables.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the subsidy allocated to Kazan Federal University for the state assignment in the sphere of scientific activities, project No. FZSM-2025-0003. The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.
The authors are grateful to BD LLC “SPLAT Global” for their administrative support and preparing of the formulations of dishwashing liquids with nuclease and protease for further research.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the BD LLC “SPLAT Global” did not participate in experimental design, results interpretation and conclusions. Authors received no payments from BD LLC “SPLAT Global”.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, E.P., V.F., I.Z., A.K.; Data curation, E.P., V.F., M.B., M.K., A.K.; Formal analysis, E.P., V.F., M.K., A.K.; Funding acquisition, I.Z., Investigation, L.A., S.K.; Methodology, L.A., S.K., E.P., V.F., A.K.; Project administration, I.Z., A.K.; Resources, I.Z., A.K.; Supervision, V.F., A.K.; Validation, E.P., V.F., M.B., A.K.; Visualization, L.A., S.K., Writing–original draft, L.A., S.K., E.P., V.F., A.K.; Writing–review & editing, L.A., S.K., E.P., V.F., M.B., A.K.

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