Evaluation of the Effect of Wastewater Irrigation on the Microbiological Quality of Vegetables in Northeast Ethiopia: Implication for Food-Borne Infection and Intoxications

Abstract

background: Cultivation of vegetables using untreated wastewater is a common phenomenon in many drought-prone areas of the world. Consumption of such microbiologically unsafe vegetable increase the risk of food-borne diseases. As a result, evaluating the effect of wastewater irrigation on the microbiological quality of vegetables would be beneficial to consumers’ health. method: A total of 192 vegetable samples (lettuce, cabbage, carrot, and tomato) and 64 irrigation water samples were collected and analyzed for total bacteria and coliform count using a standardized protocol over a 4 month period. One-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the data. Statistical significance was defined at a P-value of less than 0.05. result: Carrots were the least polluted vegetable, according to the study, while cabbage had the highest contamination levels. The mean bacterial count among the vegetables differs significantly ( P < 0.05). The fecal coliform counts of the irrigation wastewater exceed the international wastewater irrigation standards. The mean microbial count between vegetables and water samples showed a significant positive relationship ( P < 0.05). All of the analyzed vegetable samples were of borderline microbial quality for fecal coliform bacteria. conclusion: Irrigation wastewater has a low microbiological quality, which significantly contributes to the contamination of vegetables grown on it. recommendation: Measures should be taken to improve the microbial quality of wastewater as well as the quality of vegetables grown in order to protect consumers’ health from food-borne diseases.

Fungal Consortia Mediated Bio-Treatment of Organic Matter and Metals Uptake from Sewage Water: Maize Agro-Physiological Assessment

“…These findings demonstrated the synergetic action between the combined fungal species in using organic pollutants as a sole source of carbon or else degrading organic compounds in the presence of growth nutrients from cheap sources. Data from this study supports that the tested fungal strains were highlighted in several studies by their removal efficiency and potential for decomposing xenobiotic organic compounds from wastewater [25,27,30]. In some references, wood-decaying fungi are described as factories of lignin-modifying enzyme production, which is involved in fungal bioremediation processes, including laccases, manganese peroxidases, and lignin peroxidases [31,32].…”

Fecal Coliform Bacteria in Vegetable Salads Prepared in Baghdad Restaurants

“…Specifically, it increased from 8.3% to 35% in tomatoes, 1.7% to 46.2% in cabbage, and 1.5% to 20% in carrots. Previous research 26 indicated a positive correlation between the total number of fecal coliform bacteria present in vegetables and their number in irrigation water contaminated with wastewater. This study also reported that some vegetables, such as carrots, are less polluted than others, whereas cabbage recorded the highest levels of contamination.…”