Abstract

Salad is a mixture of fresh vegetables and fruits, eaten raw or partially cooked that promotes good health but harbour a wide range of pathogenic microorganism associated with human diseases. A significant portion of enteric pathogens can persist on the surface and proferate. Proliferation of these dangerous pathogens can increase the likelihood of food borne disease associated with fresh or minimally processed produce. Fresh sample of radish, cucumber and cabbage collected from different markets and vendors in Bahadrabad, Haridwar, Uttrakhand, India. Viable bacterial counts on the surface of salad vegetables were studied using spread plate agar dilution method. Bacterial load ranges from 3.0x10⁶ to 1.0x10⁷cfu/ml on NAM plates and 2.1x10⁷ to 1.2x10⁹ cfu/ml on MacConkey plates. The dominant bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria spp. and Shigella spp. found in all samples. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from majority of the samples. In our present study we found Staphylococcus aureus (50%), Listeria spp. (45%) and Shigella spp. (5%) respectively.

Keywords

Salad Vegetables, Pathogenic Microorganism, Spread Plate Method, Viable Bacterial Count

Cite This Article

Wahla, V., & Devi, N. (2015). Isolation and Characterization of Bacterial Contaminants of Salad Vegetables, International Journal for Pharmaceutical Research Scholars (IJPRS), 4(2), 283-289.