Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Feb 11;27(4):1222.
doi: 10.3390/molecules27041222.

Electrolyzed Water and Its Pharmacological Activities: A Mini-Review

Bo-Kai Chen  1 , Chin-Kun Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

Electrolyzed Water and Its Pharmacological Activities: A Mini-Review

Bo-Kai Chen et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Electrolyzed water (EW) is a new type of cleaning and disinfecting agent obtained by means of electrolysis with a dilute sodium chloride solution. It has low cost and harm to the human body and is also friendly to the environment. The anode produces acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), which is mainly used to inhibit bacterial growth and disinfect. The cathode provides basic electrolyzed water (BEW), which is implemented to promote human health. EW is a powerful multifunctional antibacterial agent with a wide range of applications in the medicine, agriculture, and food industry. Studies in vitro and in vivo show that it has an inhibitory effect on pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Therefore, EW is used to prevent chronic diseases, while it has been found to be effective against various kinds of infectious viruses. Animal experiments and clinical trials clearly showed that it accelerates wound healing, and has positive effects in oral health care, anti-obesity, lowering blood sugar, anti-cancer and anti-infectious viral diseases. This review article summarizes the application of EW in treating bacteria and viruses, the prevention of chronic diseases, and health promotion.

Keywords: chronic diseases; disinfecting agent; electrolyzed water; infectious diseases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of basic and acidic electrolyzed water.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hayashibara T. A study of the disinfection/microbiocidal effects of electrolyzed oxidizing water. Jpn. J. Med. Technol. 1994;43:555–561.
    1. Rahman S.M., Khan I., Oh D.H. Electrolyzed water as a novel sanitizer in the food industry: Current trends and future perspectives. Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2016;15:471–490. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12200. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cichoski A.J., Flores D.R., De Menezes C.R., Jacob-Lopes E., Zepka L.Q., Wagner R., Barin J.S., de Moraes Flores É.M., da Cruz Fernandes M., Campagnol P.C. Ultrasound and slightly acidic electrolyzed water application: An efficient combination to reduce the bacterial counts of chicken breast during pre-chilling. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2019;301:27–33. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.05.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu Q., Chen L., Laserna A.K., He Y., Feng X., Yang H. Synergistic action of electrolyzed water and mild heat for enhanced microbial inactivation of Escherichia coli O157: H7 revealed by metabolomics analysis. Food Control. 2020;110:107026. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.107026. - DOI
    1. Wicaksono S.A., Nabyla D.H., Utami S.B. The effects of alkaline reduced water administration to the fasting blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods. 2018;14:1260–1266.

LinkOut - more resources