Internalisation of microbes in vegetables: Microbial load of Ghanaian vegetables and the relationship with different water sources of irrigation

Eric S. Donkor, R. Lanyo, Boniface B. Kayang, Jonathan Quaye, Dominic A. Edoh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The occurrence of pathogens in the internal parts of vegetables is usually associated with irrigation water or contaminated soil and could pose risk to consumers as the internalised pathogens are unaffected by external washing. This study was carried out to assess the rate of internalisation of microbes in common Ghanaian vegetables. Standard microbiological methods were employed in microbial enumeration of vegetables collected at the market and farm levels, as well as irrigation water and soil samples. The overall mean counts of vegetables were 4.0×103 cfu g-1; 8.1×102 cfu g-1; 2.0×102 cfu g-1; 3.5×102 cfu g-1 for total bacteria, coliform counts, faecal coliform counts and yeast counts, respectively. The rate of internalisation of coliforms in vegetables irrigated with stream/well water was 2.7 times higher than those irrigated with pipe water. The mean coliform counts (4.7×107 cfu g-1) and faecal coliform counts (1.8×106 cfu g-1) of soil samples were similar to those of stream water suggesting both sources exerted similar contamination rates on the vegetables. Generally, there were no significant variations between the rates of internalisation of microbes at the market and farm levels at p<05, indicating that internalisation of microbes in the vegetables mainly occurred at the farm level. The study has shown that microbial contamination of vegetables in Ghana is not limited to the external surface, but internal vegetable parts could harbour high microbial loads and pose risk to consumers. Safety practices associated with the commodity should therefore not be limited to external washing only. There is the additional need of heating vegetables to eliminate microbes both externally and internally before consumption.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)857-861
Number of pages5
JournalPakistan Journal of Biological Sciences
Volume13
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • Consumers
  • Food
  • Microbial
  • Outbreaks
  • Safety

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