Vol.7, No.4, July - August 2019
Current Research in Microbiology and Biotechnology is an international open access bi-monthly journal that covers all aspects of latest research in microbiology and biotechnology. Manuscripts are published soon after peer-review.
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Research Article |
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Pages |
1692-1699 |
Authors |
YAOUBA Aoudou*, Cynthia Claire BALEBA, NJINKAH Bridget FONGE and Godswill NTSOMBOH NTSEFONG |
Citation |
YAOUBA Aoudou et al. Current Research in Microbiology and Biotechnology 7(4) 2019: 1692-1699 |
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1692-1699

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ABSTRACT: We investigated the bacteriological quality of fruits and vegetables sold in three major markets in Dschang locality, Cameroon, the hygiene and preservation practices of vendors and market gardeners. Bacterial contamination was high on all samples collected in these markets. Mean aerobic bacteria counts ranged from 1x107 to 4.18x108 cfu/g. Bacterial species were isolated from vegetables and namely: Staphylococcus aureus (100 to 1.15x104 cfu/g); Salmonella spp (1.35 to 3.35x104 cfu/g); Shigella spp (1.27 to 2.76 x103 cfu/g); Escherichia coli (1.43 x104 to 4.56 x104 cfu/g), with varying rates depending on types of vegetables and markets. Carrots and lettuce were the most infected vegetables without significant difference in the degree of contamination between them. The levels of vegetables contamination by Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp were highly significant. Market gardeners (95%) use organic fertilizers for vegetables production and mostly hen’s droppings without no microbiological analyses. Most of them (80%) produce in the dregs and use the river water for irrigation. Well water (49.8% of vendors) is used mainly for washing of vegetables by traders because it is free and availabile in the markets. Hygiene and vegetable preservation practices of vendors were poor and could aggravate contamination. There is thus an urgent need to sensitize vendors on good hygiene and preservation of vegetables, and to apply good agricultural practices during production.
KeyWords: Food safety, Fresh fruit, Raw Vegetables, Bacteriological quality, Hygiene practices.
How to cite: YAOUBA Aoudou et al. Microbiological quality of fresh vegetables and fruits collected from markets in Dschang, Cameroon. Curr Res Microbiol Biotechnol. 7(4) 2019: 1692-1699