Microbiological quality assessment of raw salad vegetable sold in Minna metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Vegetables are edible part of plants. A total of twenty five raw salad vegetables were collected and the microbiological assessment was made using pour plate method. The analysis was carried out on carrots, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes. The results obtained from this study revealed that the total heterotrophic viable bacterial counts, coliform counts and fungal counts for all the salad vegetables ranged from 1.4 × 10 6 -6.2 × 10 6 cfu/g, 1.1 × 10 6 -3.3 × 10 6 cfu/g and 2.1 × 10 3 -4.5 × 10 5 cfu/g respectively. The data were subjected to One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test which showed that there was significant difference (p <0.05) in the microbial load of each of the raw salad vegetables samples. The microbial isolates identified were 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 predominant. This suggests that salad vegetables used in this study are of public health concern because, they harbours microorganisms that could be hazardous to human health. Hence consumers should practice appropriate hygiene during the preparation of salad for consumption.

Progress on Drinking Water Quality Monitoring in the Northern Part of Nigeria: A Catalyst to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

“…Abubakar (2021) reported that in the year 2015, about 2 billion people globally have no access to potable drinking water in their homes, of which close to 80% of them rely on surface water, which is unsafe for not only drinking but other domestic applications. A similar claim was made by Adabara et al (2011), who argued that many developing nations depend on untreated surface water, which is unfit and often contaminated by excreta. As of 2017, Abubakar (2021) also pointed out a worrisome figure of 73% of sub-Saharan Africans that have not gained access to safe drinking water, which has been attributed to a heavily microbial disease burden on developing countries (Griffiths, 2008).…”

“…The water conforms to the physicochemical parameters standard set by WHO and SON (Table 1) but requires a serious treatment of biological and radiological, as well as heavy metals contamination which could be more harmful to people (Bwadi et al, 2021;Abba et al 2020;Ijah et al, 2020;Badejo et al, 2017;Olatunji et al, 2015;Aremu et al 2014;Giwa et al 2014;Udiba et al 2013). The majority of the water consumed in northern Nigeria (55.74%) was reported to be unsuitable for consumption (Raji et al, 2010;Adabara et al, 2011;Abubakar and Adekola, 2012;Garba et al, 2012;Amadi et al, 2013;Garba et al, 2013;Isa et al, 2013;Sabo et al, 2013, Omole, 2013Abdullahi et al, 2016a;Abdullahi et al, 2016b;Adekola et al, 2016;Jabbo et al, 2016;Unique et al, 2016;Sojobi, 2016;Amoo et al, 2018;Abdulsalam et al, 2019;Adesakin et al, 2020;Abubakar, 2021). This was attributed to the high level of contamination from different sources, as proved by the most deviated biological and radiological parameters against standards set by recognized local and international organizations.…”

“…In order to curtail the health consequences of contaminated water, it is important to continuously and sustainably ensure effective water quality monitoring (Alhassan and Ujoh, 2012). Portable water is not only essential to all organisms but necessary for healthy communities and to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) (Adabara et al, 2011). To stem the tide, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) through its member states unanimously adopted the 2030 agenda to achieve sustainable development goals.…”

Deterioration Profile of Postharvest Onion (Allium cepa L.) Bulbs Induced by Potential Pathogenic Microorganisms

“…Some of the bacteria that have been isolated from onion and other vegetables include; Klebsiella sp., Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., Flavobacterium sp. and Escherichia coli [14,15]. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifera, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium sp., are examples of fungi that have been isolated from onion and other vegetables [16,14].…”

“…and Escherichia coli [14,15]. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifera, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium sp., are examples of fungi that have been isolated from onion and other vegetables [16,14]. The sources of these pathogenic bacteria and fungi that cause food poisoning have been reported to include fertilizer, soil, irrigation water, air, insects, livestock/wildlife, farmworkers, harvesting and transportation equipment [17,18,19].…”