Investigation of contamination of Fecal Escherichia coli invegetables collected from Sistan

Background and Aim : : Fruits and vegetables are important items in the food basket, microbialcontamination of fresh products is a global concern despite acceptable hygienic techniques forwashing and processing. Therefore, fresh fruits and vegetables can act as carriers of pathogenicbacteria. The population of microorganisms on food, especially vegetables, can be very large anddiverse. Faecal Escherichia coli is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family, which plays asignificant role in foodborne outbreaks. Escherichia coli is an important indicator in the detectionof contamination of vegetables with human or animal feces. Purpose: The purpose of this researchis to investigate the presence of fecal Escherichia coli bacteria in vegetables collected fromdifferent parts of Sistan.Methods : In this descriptive cross-sectional study, ۱۰۰ samples of vegetables from differentplaces (north, south, east and west) were collected from itinerant sellers and markets of ediblevegetables in Sistan. The degree of contamination of the samples with fecal Escherichia coli wasinvestigated by the maximum probable number (MPN) method.Results : Out of ۱۰۰ vegetable samples collected, ۳۲ samples (۳۲%) contained heat-resistantcoliform. Among the samples containing heat-resistant coliforms (n=۳۲), one sample (۳.۱%)contained ۲۳MPN/g heat-resistant coliforms and ۳۱ samples (۹۶.۹%) contained ۱۰۰ MPN/g ormore heat-resistant coliforms. It was hot.Conclusion : The results of this research show the poor health quality of the studied area, whichis worrying for public health.

کلیدواژه ها:

fecal Escherichia coli ، vegetables ، Iran ، MPN ، Sistan