Bacteriological Assessment of Awarawa Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) Consumed in Awka, South Eastern Nigeria

T.M.C. Ajogwu, J. C. Ohuche, S.O. Umeh and O. C. Ngah
Additional contact information
T.M.C. Ajogwu: Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka, Nigeria.
J. C. Ohuche: Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka, Nigeria.
S.O. Umeh: Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka, Nigeria.
O. C. Ngah: Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka, Nigeria.

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, 2023, vol. 10, issue 11, 540-546

Abstract: Tomatoes are among the indispensible ingredients in foods worldwide. They are rich in nutrients that promote healthy living of man. Unfortunately they are fragile when ripe and their storage is difficult. Most of the fruits spoil before reaching final consumers and when spoilt, they are sold at cheap cost. This study looked into the bacteria associated with the semi-spoilt tomatoes consumed in Awka, South East Nigeria. Standard procedures were used to isolate, characterize and identify bacteria from the samples. Bacteria counts ranged from 5.84-8.64 X 103cfu/ml, and the six bacteria isolates were identified as Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas sp, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp, Enterobacter sp and Proteus sp. The organisms occurred as mixed cultures in the awarawa tomatoes samples and at varying frequencies, with E. coli and Pseudomonas sp having lowest frequency of 7% while Klebsiella sp had the highest frequency of 40%. These isolated bacteria are pathogenic and can pose adverse health problems to consumers. Therefore it is not advisable to consume these semi-spoilt tomatoes to avoid food poisoning and other related problems.

Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/d ... issue-11/540-546.pdf (application/pdf)
https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/artic ... uth-eastern-nigeria/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bjc:journl:v:10:y:2023:i:11:p:540-546

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation is currently edited by Dr. Renu Malsaria

More articles in International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation from International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Renu Malsaria ().