Prevalence of Coliforms in Traditionally Dried Leafy Vegetables Sold in Open Markets and Food Stores in Gaborone, Botswana

Sisai Mpuchane; Berhanu A Gashe

doi:10.4315/0362-028X-59.1.28

Prevalence of Coliforms in Traditionally Dried Leafy Vegetables Sold in Open Markets and Food Stores in Gaborone, Botswana

J Food Prot. 1996 Jan;59(1):28-30. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-59.1.28.

Authors

Sisai Mpuchane¹, Berhanu A Gashe¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Botswana, P. BAG 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.

PMID: 31158956
DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X-59.1.28

Abstract

The aerobic mesophilic count, coliform count, and prevalence of Escherichia coli on two vegetables commonly consumed by a majority of people in Botswana were determined. The aerobic count was found to be >10⁵ CFU/g in both kinds of vegetables and as many as 27 to 30% of the samples had counts >10⁷ CFU/g. Escherichia coli was present in 82% of the Amaranthus leaves sold as morogo in food stores and 50% of the Phaseolus leaves purchased from open markets. Nonfecal coliforms were present in all samples. The nonfecal coliforms belong to species of Klebsiella and Enterobacter and were present in the samples at values of 1 × 10¹ to 4 × 10⁴ CFU/g.

Keywords: Coliforms; dried leafy vegetables.