Evaluation of the Degree of Contamination of Salad Vegetables Sold in Umuahia Main Market

Nwankwo. I.U¹, Eze. V.C¹, Onwuakor. C.E^1, and Friday. J.U¹

¹Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria.

Cite this paper:
Nwankwo. I.U, Eze. V.C, Onwuakor. C.E and Friday. J.U. Evaluation of the Degree of Contamination of Salad Vegetables Sold in Umuahia Main Market. American Journal of Microbiological Research. 2015; 3(1):41-44. doi: 10.12691/ajmr-3-1-6

Abstract

The evaluation of the degree of contamination of salad vegetables sold in Umuahia main market was carried out. Six Samples of salad vegetables (Cabbage, Carrot, Cucumber, Onions, Green peas and Green beans) sold around the market were analyzed. Total viable counts ranged from 2.35 x 10⁵ to 9.50 x 10⁵ cfu/ml with highest incidence seen in cabbage and onions sold by vendor A. 86.66% of cabbage samples were contaminated, with the least incidence seen in green bean (33.33%). Six bacterial and five fungal species were isolated. The isolates include: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus sp, Enterobacter sp and Proteus sp. and the fungal isolates were Aspergillus sp. Yeast, Cladosporium sp. Penicillium sp. and Rhizopus sp. These results indicates that street vended salad vegetables where contaminated to an extent, and therefore, needs vigorous washing with safe running water before consuming to avoid food borne diseases associated with consumption of contaminated food.

Keywords:
Evaluation Degree Of Contamination Salad Vegetables Umuahia Market

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