Microbial status of street vended fresh-cut fruits, salad vegetables and juices in Dhaka city of Bangladesh

Md. Kamruzzaman M.; Arzina H.; Md. Afzal H.; Rashed N.; Mahfuza I.; Roksana H.; Afifa K.

Microbial status of street vended fresh-cut fruits, salad vegetables and juices in Dhaka city of Bangladesh

2016

An investigation was undertaken for the isolation and identification of food borne microorganisms from different street-vended fresh-cut fruits, salad vegetables and juices. Total bacterial count (TBC), total coliform count (TCC) and total salmonella-shigella counts (TSS) were 3.5x103 cfu/g, 4.8 x 102 cfu/g and 3.6x102 cfu/g, respectively in fresh cut hog plum (Spondias mombin L.). In guava (Psidium guajava L.) TBC, TCC and TSS count were 1.5x104 cfu/g, 4.9x102cfu/g and 2.3x102 cfu/g respectively. Total bacterial count (TBC) and TCC were 4.6 x104 cfu/g and 3.9x102 respectively in plum (Ziziphus mauritiana L.). This result suggests that hog plum had the lowest while plum had the highest microbial load among all the fruit samples. In salad vegetables, TBC and TCC varied between 3.9x103 to 4.3x103 cfu/g and 2.6x102 to 6.6x102 cfu/g, respectively. Among salad vegetables, tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) showed the lowest and carrot (Daucus carota L.) showed the highest microbial loads. Total bacterial count (TBC) ranged from 6.3x104 to 1.4x105 cfu/ml and TCC from 2.3x102 to 3.7x103 cfu/ml in juice samples. The lowest TBC was found in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) andthe highest was found in olot kombol (Abroma augusta L.) juices. Total salmonella-shigella counts (TSS) were found to be nil in all salad vegetables and juice samples. Five different organisms were identified from the tested samples including Escherichia coli (36%), Bacillus (25%), Staphylococcus (24%), Klebsiella (9%) and Proteus (6 %). The isolated pathogens provided a potential health hazard by the consumption of these street vended foods. Therefore, hygienic practices should be ensured for the safety of consumers as well as to prevent food borne illnesses.

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