Parasitological assessment of some fruits and vegetables commonly sold in retail outlets in the Mfoundi Division of Cameroon

Kame-Ngasse Ginette Irma; Ebogo-Belobo Jean Thierry; Kamwa-Ngassam Isaka; Watat Stella Vanelle; Atembeh-Noura Efietngab; Tchinda-Tiecheu Emilie; Tsafack Judith; Nkengazong Lucia

doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2023.e00313

Parasitological assessment of some fruits and vegetables commonly sold in retail outlets in the Mfoundi Division of Cameroon

Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2023 Jun 14:22:e00313. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2023.e00313. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Kame-Ngasse Ginette Irma¹, Ebogo-Belobo Jean Thierry¹, Kamwa-Ngassam Isaka², Watat Stella Vanelle³, Atembeh-Noura Efietngab¹, Tchinda-Tiecheu Emilie¹, Tsafack Judith¹, Nkengazong Lucia^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM), PO box 13033, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
² Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Maroua, PO box 814, Cameroon.
³ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, PO box 812, Cameroon.

Abstract

Background: Fruits and vegetables are very important for human diet as they provide all the nutrients needed to be healthy with just a daily-recommended intake of 400 to 600 mg. However, they constitute one of the major sources of human infectious agents. Thus monitoring of the microbial contaminants of the fruits and vegetables is very crucial for human safety.

Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on fruits and vegetables in four markets (Mfoundi, Mokolo, Huitième and Acacia) of the Yaoundé city from October 2020 to March 2021. In all, 528 samples were purchased (carrots, cucumbers, cabbages, lettuces, leeks, green beans, okra, celeries, pepper, green peppers and tomatoes) and processed for infective agents using the centrifugation methods (Formalin, distilled and saline water). Seventy-four (74) soil/water samples collected from the sale environment were analysed using the same technics.

Results: Overall, 149/528 (28.21%) were contaminated by at least one infective agent: 130 (24.62%) and 19 (3.6%) having one and two pathogen species respectively. Vegetables had high contamination rate (22.34%) than fruits (5.87%). Lettuce (52.08%), carrot (41.66%) and cabbage (35.41%), were the most contaminated while okra was the least (6.25%). Candida spp. (14.01%) and larva of Strongyloides stercoralis (7.76%) were more observed while Hookworms (1.13%) was the least. Frequency of Strongyloides stercoralis (p = 0.001) and Candida spp. (p = 0.01) were statistically high than other pathogens. Contamination rates were similar for washed (27.65%) and unwashed (28.78%) samples before sale. Candida spp. (p = 0.001), Strongyloides stercoralis (p = 0.01) and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (p = 0.017) showed significant contamination rates by month. Contamination trends were high in the rainy season (42.6%) than the dry season (15.1%). Correlation between environment and products sold revealed same pathogens in both cases.

Conclusion: The study highlights that the sale environment and products constitute potential source of microbial contamination. These data raised the concern of stakeholders about health risk related to vegetables and fruits sold in some local markets in Cameroon. Thus the necessity for them to development more appropriate policies on the surveillance of sale environment and on the management of these products during the different process phases by the population.

Keywords: Cameroon; Fruits; Markets; Microbial contaminants; Vegetables; Yaoundé.