Microbiological Quality Assessment of Raw Salad Vegetable sold in Minna metropolis, Nigeria.

Abstract

A total of twenty five (25) raw salad vegetables were collected and the microbial assessment was investigated using pour plate method. The analysis was carried out on carrots, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes. The results obtained from this present study revealed that the total heterotrophic viable bacterial counts, coliform counts and fungal counts for all the salad vegetables ranged from 1.4 x 106 to 6.2 x 106cfu/g, 1.1 x106 – 3.3 x 106cfu/g and 2.1 x 103 – 4.5 x 105cfu/g respectively. The data obtained from the microbiological assessment were subjected to one way analysis of variances (ANOVA) which showed that there was significant differences (p<0.05) in the microbial load of the raw salad vegetables from each samples. The microbial isolates were identified as E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella sp, Pseudomonas sp Aspergillus niger, Mucor sp Penicillium sp, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium sp. Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger were found predominant. This suggests that salad vegetables in the present study are of public health concern and harbours microorganisms that could be hazardous to human health. Hence consumers should maintain the highest possible level of hygiene during the process of preparation.