Microbiological Quality and Safety of Some Dried Spices Obtained from Markets, Spice Shops and Homes

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine both the microbiological quality and safety of the spices as well as whether or not there are any pathogenic bacteria in fifty-four samples of six dried spices supplied from three markets, three spice shops, and three homes. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB), aerobic spore former bacteria (ASFB), total yeast-mold (TYM), coliform group bacteria (CGB), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Salmonella spp. were found in red pepper flakes, red pepper powder, ground black pepper, dried mint, dried thyme, and ground cumin. The highest count of TMAB (11.20 ± 0.01 log cfu/g) was found in ground black pepper obtained from the second home (P < 0.05). 62.96% of the samples contained CGB (P < 0.05). 46.29% of the samples had unacceptable limits (2 log cfu/g) of E. coli, whereas 87.03% of the samples had unacceptable limits (2 log cfu/g) of S. aureus according to international microbiological standards. Salmonella spp. was isolated from 38.90% of the samples. The most common microorganisms found at the unacceptable limit included S. aureus (47/54), E. coli (25/54), and Salmonella spp. (21/54). The highest number of samples containing any microorganism at the unacceptable level was obtained from the home (18/18) and this rate was 14/18 in the samples obtained from both markets and spice shops. Dried thyme had the best microbiological quality. These results demonstrated that the pathogenic bacteria loads of the analyzed dried spices were high, and thus unsafe in terms of their microbiological quality.

Isolation of Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Commercially Available Spices in Mangaluru City, India

“…coli, a commensal organism is the most common coliform bacteria that are associated with spices. [15][16][17][18][19] Contamination of coliforms in spices indicates poor sanitary or careless handling practices by spice handlers, improper facility design, the use of non-potable water during processing, mix-ups and cross contaminations, all of which results in opportunistic illnesses. In the present study, though E. coli was absent in all the spice samples, 24 (17.14 %) of the 140 samples tested positive for total coliforms.…”

“…20 Globally, many recent studies reported the occurrence of Salmonella, a bacteria of particular public health concern. 16,21,22 A study investigated that imported herbs and spices accounted for 1,677 cases i.e., 16% of all foodborne illnesses in the United States between 1996 and 2014. 23 Furthermore, the FDA determined that imported dried spices had a contamination rate of 6.6% between 2007 and 2009 and also according to the researchers, the contamination rate has been relatively constant over the last three decades.…”

“…18 Yet, many studies have reported the incidence of S. aureus in their studies. 7,16,20,28 Bacillus species constitute the most frequently encountered bacteria in a variety of spice samples from various geographical origins. 7,29 B. cereus, a group of mesophilic bacteria was found to be absent in the present study, even though gram-positive sporulating bacteria was detected in 99 (70%) of the spice samples in which the powdered form showed a higher number when compared with the whole samples.…”

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“…In Palmas, Tocantins (Walker et al, 2014), Amazon region of Brazil, absence was found in garlic and oregano samples. Ogur (2022) in Turkey, determining the microbiological quality and safety of spices, found E. coli, S. aureus and Salmonella spp. in red pepper flakes, black pepper, dried mint, dried thyme and ground cumin.…”