Akoachere Jane-Francis Tatah Kihla, Tatsinkou Bertrand Fossi, Nkengfack Joseph Mbapngong
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, PO Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
BMC Res Notes. 2018 Feb 6;11(1):100. doi: 10.1186/s13104-018-3175-2.
Increase in awareness of the health benefits of vegetables has resulted in an increase in consumption. Many vegetables are consumed raw to retain the natural taste and heat labile nutrients. The safety of raw vegetables is a great concern. We investigated the bacteriological and parasitological quality of salad vegetables sold in three major markets in Fako Division Cameroon, the hygiene and preservation practices of vendors and determined the antimicrobial sensitivity of bacterial isolates, to provide data that could be used to improve food safety and safeguard public health.
Bacterial contamination was high. Mean aerobic bacteria counts ranged from 2.5 × 10 to 15 × 10 cfu/g, total coliform counts from 4 to > 2400/g and fecal coliforms < 3 to 1100/g. Six bacterial species were isolated among which Staphylococcus aureus (35.4%) predominated while Serratia marcescens (8.5%) was the least. Bacteria showed high resistance to erythromycin (87.6%). Ten parasitic organisms were detected. Balantidium coli (25.6%) and Entamoeba spp. (21.7%) predominated. Contamination was highest in lettuce and lowest in green pepper. Hygiene and vegetable preservation practices of vendors were poor and could aggravate contamination. Contamination of fresh salad vegetables with pathogenic bacteria and parasites could be a food safety concern in study area.
人们对蔬菜健康益处的认识提高，导致蔬菜消费量增加。许多蔬菜被生食以保留自然风味和对热不稳定的营养成分。生食蔬菜的安全性备受关注。我们调查了喀麦隆法科分区三个主要市场销售的沙拉蔬菜的细菌学和寄生虫学质量、摊贩的卫生和保存做法，并确定了细菌分离株的抗菌敏感性，以提供可用于改善食品安全和保障公众健康的数据。
细菌污染程度很高。需氧菌平均计数范围为2.5×10至15×10 cfu/g，总大肠菌群计数为4至>2400/g，粪大肠菌群为<3至1100/g。分离出六种细菌，其中金黄色葡萄球菌（35.4%）占主导，而粘质沙雷氏菌（8.5%）最少。细菌对红霉素表现出高度耐药性（87.6%）。检测到十种寄生虫。结肠小袋纤毛虫（25.6%）和内阿米巴属（21.7%）占主导。生菜中的污染最高，青椒中的污染最低。摊贩的卫生和蔬菜保存做法较差，可能会加重污染。在研究区域，新鲜沙拉蔬菜被病原菌和寄生虫污染可能是一个食品安全问题。
