Assessment of parasitic and microbial infections in vegetables using different washing methods

Abstract number: P987

Khosravi A., Asadollahy E., Armani A.

Objectives: Vegetables are very important part of the dairy food. Contamination can occur in vegetables particularly if there is a poor sanitation condition such as what in present in some part of Ilam province in Iran. Both microbial and parasitic infection can be found on vegetables if the washing method is not accurate.

Methods: 180 vegetable samples were randomly selected from retailer in different areas of the Ilam city. Vegetables were rinsed with tap water thoroughly keeping the water for examination while the sample treated with detergent and hypochlorite separately and the water kept again for examination purposes. Formalin-ether concentration was applied comparing to sedimentation and direct microscopy

Results: The parasitic infections were observed in more than 40% of samples while the microbial infection in more than 70%. The parasitic infections were reduced after treating with detergent but this was not statistically significant. No significant decrease was observed for the microbial infection after washing with soap while it was significant after treating with hypochlorite. Giardia lamblia (43%), Ascaris lumbricoides (5.6%), Taenia (8%), Entamoeba coli (7.8%), other Amoeba (7%) and Trichucephalus (5%) were the most prevalent infection in samples.