Ergel Salvador¹, Arlindo Chaúque², Tasmiya Irá³, Leonel Monteiro^3,

Vegetables can be exposed to pathogenic microorganisms during production, transportation, handling and processing, constituting a health risk for the consumer. The aim of this study was to determine the risk for spread of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae through Lactuca sativa and Allium fistulosum L. from Infulene valley, Maputo city, Mozambique. Between September and October 2014, a total of 24 samples (12 L. sativa and 12 A. fistulosum L.) were collected from the production field of Infulene valley. The vegetables were washed thrice with sterile distilled water and the third washing product was inoculated into enrichment media to increase the chance of bacteria isolation on solid media. MacConkey plates were observed to select all suggestive colonies, and oxidase negative organisms were considered for further identification. An average of approximately three organisms were isolated from each sample, and identified using API 20E (Biomerieux, France). All isolates were tested to 14 antibiotics using Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method, and strains resistant to three or more antibiotics were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR). Gram negative bacteria were detected in all samples. In a total of 68 Gram negative bacteria, 57/68 (83.5%) were Enterobacteriaceae, being the most frequent members were Klebsiella oxytoca (21.1%), Proteus vulgaris (19.3%) and Enterobacter cloacae (12.3%). We observed high rates of resistance to Amoxicillin-calvulanate (98.2%) along with MDR profile (35.1%). This study indicates the potential risk for spread antibiotic resistant bacteria through L. sativa and A. fistolosum L. There is a need for take actions in both producers and consumers sides to prevent spread of pathogenic bacteria and reduce risk for diseases.

vegetables, risk of infection, antibiotic resistance, Enterobacteriaceae