scholarly journals Microbial Quality of Sliced Pawpaw (Carica papaya) and Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Sold on Some Streets of Accra Metropolis, Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Michael Olu-Taiwo ◽  
Baakwa Miah De-Graft ◽  
Akua Obeng Forson

In most African countries, street vending of fruits is prevalent and the likelihood of predisposing consumers to microbial contamination is very high. This study aimed to determine various bacteria and risk factors that are associated with fruits sold by street vendors in Accra. Sliced watermelons and pawpaws were randomly purchased from selected suburbs in Greater Accra Region of Ghana. One gram (1 g) of each watermelon and pawpaw was homogenized in 9 ml of sterile peptone water, and 0.1 ml from each serial dilutions of each fruit was spread on plate count agar, blood agar, and MacConkey agar plates for total aerobic counts and coliform counts. Agar plates were incubated at 33–37°C for 18–24 h. Bacterial identification was done by standard bacteriological methods. Additionally, questionnaires were administered to the vendors to gather data on food hygiene and knowledge on foodborne illness. The study revealed that although some of the fruit vendors were educated on food hygiene, most sold fruits were contaminated with mean total aerobic plate counts of 2.6 × 105–8.1 × 105 CFU g−1 and 3.7 × 104–7.1 × 104 CFU g−1 for watermelon and pawpaw. The mean coliform counts for pawpaw and watermelon ranged between 1.2 × 103–8.1 × 103 CFU g−1 and 1.6 × 104–3.1 × 104 CFU g−1, respectively. Overall, mean aerobic counts and mean coliform counts were not significantly different among vendors in selected locations p > 0.05 . However, predominant bacteria isolated included Enterobacter species (33.3%), Citrobacter sp. (20.0%), and Klebsiella sp. (15.9%). The study revealed that watermelon and pawpaw sold on the streets in Accra could be possible source of foodborne illness. Therefore, street food vendors must be educated on food hygiene protocols and measures to improve microbial quality of street vended fruits.

1994 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 431-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
MOHAMMED I. YAMANI ◽  
BASIM A. AL-DABABSEH

Sixty samples of fresh hoummos (chickpea dip) from 15 restaurants were examined in winter and summer to find out numbers and types of microorganisms present. Five reference samples, produced by the investigators under hygienic conditions, were examined for comparison. The microbial load of commercial hoummos was high, and spherical lactic acid bacteria (LAB) belonging to Lactococcus, Enterococcus and Leuconostoc were the predominant microorganisms. The means of the aerobic plate count (APC) and the counts of LAB and coliforms (1.9 × 108, 1.6 × 108 and 2.9 × 105/g, respectively) in summer samples were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the averages of the same counts in winter samples (2.7 × 107, 1.6 × 107 and 2.2 × 103/g). The average summer and winter yeast counts were 4.2 × 104 and 1.5 × 104g, respectively. In reference samples of hoummos, APC and LAB counts were < 103/g, while the coliform and yeast counts were < 10/g and 102/g, respectively, indicating lack of hygienic practices during the production of commercial hoummos. Salmonella was not detected in any sample, and Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus counts of all samples were < 10/g. The relatively low pH of hoummos (the average pH of all samples was 5.1) and the rapid growth of LAB, possibly accompanied by production of inhibitory substances, may explain the predominance of these bacteria, and could have contributed to the absence of the pathogens examined.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-482
Author(s):  
Razieh VALIASILL ◽  
Majid AZIZI ◽  
Maasome BAHREINI ◽  
Hossein AROUIE

Medicinal plants may be exposed to a wide range of microbial contamination during pre- and post- harvest stages and they can present high microbial counts. In this study, the microbial quality of 44 samples of dry herbs namely: mint (Menthaspp.), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), summer savory (Satureja hortensis), zataria (Zataria multiflora), Indian valerian (Valeriana wallichii), their brewing and extracts were analyzed. Total count using plate count agar medium (PCA), coliform count by Violet Red Bile Agar (VRBL), Enterobacteriacea by Violet Red Bile Glucose (VRBG) were evaluated. Medium Baird-Parker agar (BP) medium and Tryptone Bile X-Gluc (TBX) medium were used for the isolation and enumeration of Staphylococcus aurous and E. coli spp. respectively. Furthermore, Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate agar medium (XLD) and Bismuth Sulfite Agar medium(BSA) were used for detection of Salmonella spp. Fungal and mold contamination was assessed using yeast extract glucose chloramphenicol agar. The results showed that the contamination of the samples with total count (100%) and Enterobacteriaceae (85%), total coliform (83%), mold and yeast (98%) and E. coli ssp. (2.27) were detected, including in the study samples the absence of pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aurous, Salmonella spp. Moreover, the extract had a lower microbial load in comparison to dry herb samples. Also, the lowest and the highest of contamination rates were observed for Indian valerian and zataria, respectively. According to the results, there is a need to control the environmental conditions and improve hygiene in the production process; even more, it is recommended to choose a suitable decontamination method for disinfection during packing medicinal plants and during post-packing manipulation and transport.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Toberni S. Situmorang

Food hygiene is an important factor to protect ourselves from the contamination of germs and bacteria that enter through these food intermediaries. Food contaminated by bacteria will cause disease and can cause death if not treated immediately. Common bacteria that contaminate food are Salmonella thypii and Eschericia coli. Both types of bacteria are a group of gram-negative bacteria in the form of bacilli. This study aims to analyze and identify the bacteria S. thypii and E. coli found in corn ice samples. The study was conducted with a descriptive method by conducting a bacteriological examination to determine the quality of sample cleanliness. There are 3 stages in this study, the first stage is calculation of amount of total bacteria (total plate count), analysis of S. thypii and E. coli bacteria and identification with Gram staining. The results showed 40% of samples tested is positive for S. thypii and 60% for E. coli. The largest amount of total bacteria was shown by samples 1 and 3, which were 78 cfu and 52 cfu, respectively. The presence of S. thypii and E. coli bacteria in the sample is thought to be due to poor hygiene factors in the processing of the drink


Author(s):  
Anil Gill ◽  
Akash John ◽  
Neelam Iqbal ◽  
Tallat Anwar Faridi ◽  
Sofia Noor

Bakery items are a vital element of a well-balanced diet, and supermarket shelves now stock a wide range of them. Bakery items are the most popular ready-to-eat foods (REF).Objective:To assess the microbial quality of bakery foods (Bread, Cake and patties) and check the total plate count (TPC), bacterial and yeast count Methods:The analysis of the microbial quality of bakery products was determined for three different bakery products (bread, cake and patties) at ten different locations collected from a renowned bakery in Lahore, Pakistan. The samples were assessed under complete hygienic conditions by standardized plate count (TPC) and MPN method. Micro-organisms (Coliform, Fecal Coliform and Yeast) were lately confirmed by their morphological characteristics and biochemical tests Results: Among the three commodities, bread was found to be highly contaminated by micro-organisms and the total plate count recorded was 4.7 x 105cfu g-1collected from sector I9 which is not consumable. Whereas Patties showed the number of TPC as 1.6 x 105 cfu g-1also collected from sector I9. Cake was revealed as least infected bakery product i.e., 5.7 x 104 cfu g-1. The above results showed that sector I9 is highly contaminated and a threat for health. Bacterial plate count (Coliform and Fecal Coliform count) was highly measured in bread as 460 MPN g-1 taken from sector I5 where as it remains under the permissible limit determined by WHO, 1994 in remaining sectors Conclusions:In conclusion the bakery food is contaminated by the use of un-hygienic water, miss handled during the process after baking i.e., slicing, serving and packaging. To avoid a possible epidemic of food borne illness, competent authorities should conduct a stricter and more stringent inspection of  REFs sold to clients in bakeries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-242
Author(s):  
IA Allamin ◽  
MB Borkoma ◽  
M Ibu Abbas ◽  
MA Wazin

The study was conducted to assess the bacteriological quality of sliced fruits, Fresh cut fruits collected from different stationary vendors in Maiduguri metropolis and were analysed to determine their bacteriological quality. All samples examined were contaminated with bacteria load. The Total aerobic plate count (TAPC) range from 1.8x105 – 3.4x105 for pawpaw, 1.9x105- 6.8x105 for pineapple and 1.5x105- 5.1x105 for watermelon, Likewise Total coliforms count range from 1.0x104 – 2.0x104 for pawpaw, 1.0x104- 3.8x104 for pineapple and 1.0x105- 4.6x104 for watermelon. The bacterial isolate were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli, Pseudomonas, Shigella sp. and Salmonella sp. The results obtained shows that sliced fruits sold in Maiduguri metropolis are habited by pathogenic bacteria. Therefore educating our fruit vendors on food hygiene, adequate packaging/covering of fruits on display for sale and washing of fruits before consumption is recommended. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v4i2.12645 International Journal of Environment Vol.4(2) 2015: 236-242


2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 1909-1916 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.F. Cunha ◽  
A.D. Lage ◽  
M.M. Pereira e Araújo ◽  
C.F. Abreu ◽  
A.R. Tassinari ◽  
...  

New approaches are needed to quickly indicate possible contamination of UHT milk, among them the technique of ATP-Bioluminescence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the results of culture methods with the results of ATP-Bioluminescence technique of 102 UHT whole milk samples incubated at 48, 72, and 168 hours. UHT milk samples were analyzed for the presence of mesophilic and psychrotrophic aerobic microorganisms using Plate Count Agar (PCA), Brain-Heart Infusion (BHI) media and PetrifilmTM Aerobic Count (AC) plates. The ATP-Bioluminescence technique was applied through the Microbial Luminescent Screening (MLS) system. Significant correlations were found between counts of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms on PCA, PetrifilmTM AC, BHI and results of ATP bioluminescence technique (P≤0.05). The ATP-Bioluminescence technique had higher correlation with counting method in PCA than BHI media. At lower pass/fail limits of Relative Light Units (60, 50, 45 and 40 RLU), the number of samples identified as positive increased and statistically agreed with aerobic mesophilic microorganism counts (P>0.05). For the dairy industry, the ATP-Bioluminescence technique may become an important tool that assists the official methods to quickly monitor the microbiological quality of UHT milk though this will likely require a threshold below 150 RLU.


2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1722-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. PAO ◽  
M. R. ETTINGER

This study evaluated the microbial quality of ground beef and ground beef patties sold at local (Virginia) and Internet (U.S.) retail markets. A total of 152 ground beef products, consisting of locally purchased raw ground beef (LRG) and frozen beef patties (LFP) and Internet-procured frozen ground beef (IFG) and frozen beef patties (IFP), were tested. Results showed that LFP had significantly lower levels of aerobic mesophiles, psychrotrophs, and coliforms than LRG, IFG, and IFP. Furthermore, IFG had greater numbers of Escherichia coli than LRG and LFP. No sample was contaminated with E. coli O157: H7, but one duplicate set of summer LFP samples contained Salmonella. Listeria spp. were present in 25 and 29% of samples from local and Internet markets, respectively. About 5.0, 11.1, 10.5, and 7.9% of LRG, LFP, IFG, and IFP samples were contaminated with L. monocytogenes. This study identified differences in microbial quality between local and Internet products. Careful handling and thorough cooking of ground beef products, regardless of market source, are recommended to prevent foodborne illness.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Monteiro de Souza-Gugelmin ◽  
Carolina Della Torre Lima ◽  
Sergio Narciso Marques de Lima ◽  
Henis Mian ◽  
Izabel Yoko Ito

The quality of water in a dental unit is of considerable importance because patients and dental staff are regularly exposed to water and aerosol generated from the dental unit. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of microbial contamination in dental unit waterlines. Water samples were collected aseptically from the waterlines (reservoir, triple-syringe, high-speed) of 15 dental units. After serial dilution to 1:10(6) in APHA, the samples were seeded by the pour-plate technique and cultured in plate count agar (Difco) for 48 h at 32ºC. Analysis was based on the number of colony forming units (CFU). The Wilcoxon non-parametric test indicated that the levels of water contamination were highest in the triple-syringe (13 of 15) and in the high-speed (11 of 15); both levels were higher than those of the water reservoir. There was no significant statistical difference between the level of contamination in the triple-syringe and the high-speed as determined by the Mann-Whitney test [p(H0) = 40.98%; Z = - 0.2281]. Because biofilm forms on solid surfaces constantly bathed by liquid where microorganisms are present, these results indicate that the water in the dental unit may be contaminated by biofilm that forms in these tubules.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 753-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akhilesh Kumar Verma ◽  
Vikas Pathak ◽  
Pramila Umaraw ◽  
Veer Pal Singh

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to explore the possibilities of utilization of chicken meat in the preparation of chicken meat noodles and subsequent storage at ambient temperature. Design/methodology/approach – Chicken meat was incorporated at the levels, viz., 0 and 40 per cent, replacing refined wheat flour in the formulation. Proximate composition, pH, water activity (aw), free fatty acid (FFA), thio-barbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS), water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), textural profile analysis (TPA), microbial quality and sensory evaluation were assessed at 10-day interval up to 30 days. Findings – Moisture, aw, TBARS, FFA, WAI, crispiness, total plate count (TPC) and yeast and mould values increased significantly (p < 0.05), whereas, fibre, ash, pH, WSI, hardness, work of shearing and sensory attributes showed significant (p < 0.05) decrease. However, all these parameter, viz., microbial quality, TBRS, FFA and sensory attributes, were within the acceptable limit during the entire storage study. Research limitations/implications – Quality of the products may be improved by the incorporation of some natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent in chicken meat noodles. Originality/value – Consumption and demand of the noodles is increasing due to its easy preparation and taste; however, it is poor in nutritive quality. Incorporation of the chicken meat in the noodles improves the nutritive values and sensory attributes, which is important for the marketability of the meat products. The keeping quality of chicken meat noodles was comparable to the control noodles at ambient temperature up to 30 days. Noodles industry provides an alternate sector for the utilization of meat and enhancing its overall quality attributes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-509
Author(s):  
Jaysankar De ◽  
Bruna Bertoldi ◽  
Mohammad Jubair ◽  
Alan Gutierrez ◽  
Jeffery K. Brecht ◽  
...  

Florida peaches (Prunus persica) typically are picked and placed in a cold room on the day of harvest, then packed and shipped the next day. This room cooling (RC) is slow, requiring ≈24 hours or more for the fruit to reach optimal temperature (6 to 7 °C). There is currently limited research on the effect of cooling practices on microbial quality of peaches, yet this study is essential for decision making in areas such as upgrading packing house facilities and the implementation of improved handling procedures. This research compared the efficacies of postharvest cooling by RC, forced-air cooling (FAC), and hydrocooling with sanitizer (HS) treatment of peaches to reduce their surface microbial population and to determine the effect on shelf life and microbial quality. Three trials for RC and two trials each for FAC and HS were performed. Following cooling, fruit were stored at 1 °C. The average aerobic plate count (APC) from field samples was 5.29 log cfu/peach, which remained unchanged after RC or FAC but was reduced significantly (P < 0.05) to 4.63 log cfu/peach after HS. The average yeast and mold counts (Y&M) from field samples (6.21 log cfu/peach) were reduced highly significantly (P < 0.001) to 4.05 log cfu/peach after HS. Hydrocooling significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the APC and Y&M counts from the peaches and showed promise in maintaining the microbiological quality of the fruit throughout storage. However, at the end of the 21-day storage period, there was no significant difference in APC or Y&M counts from peaches, irrespective of the cooling methods. Peaches that went through the hydrocooling process and were subsequently packed showed an increase (P < 0.05) in both APC and Y&M counts, while fruit that were not hydrocooled showed no such increase. Information obtained will be used to recommend the best temperature management practices for maintaining the postharvest quality of peaches. A detailed cost-benefit analysis of different cooling methods and the time interval between harvest and shipment are both necessary for a more conclusive recommendation.


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