Incidence of multiple pathogenic bacteria in green chilli and cabbage in Dhaka city

The present study was carried out to investigate the microbiological quality and incidence of pathogenic bacteria found in green chilli and cabbage from different shops in Dhaka city. A total of 20 samples, 10 green chillies (Capsicum annuum) and 10 cabbages (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) were randomly collected from 20 sampling sites in central Dhaka. The numbers of total heterotrophic bacteria, total coliform and total Staphylococcus aureus were enumerated for each sample by dilution and spread plate technique. The ranges of total heterotrophic bacterial counts (log10cfu/g) in chilli and cabbage samples were 8.30 – 11.43 and 10.27 – 11.83, respectively. Total coliform counts (log10cfu/g) ranged between 5.30 – 8.39 and 6.38 – 8.57 in chilli and cabbage samples, respectively. The level of contamination by Staphylococcus aureus was lower than that of coliforms and demonstrated counts (log10cfu/g) between 4.25 – 7.91 and 5.61 – 7.77 in chilli and cabbage, respectively. The presence of Salmonella, Shigella and Vibrio species were determined following appropriate enrichment culture technique. More than 40% of both types of samples were contaminated with one or more of the pathogens (Salmonella spp., Vibrio cholerae or V. parahaemolyticus). It can be concluded that high level of bacterial contamination of green chilli and cabbage poses serious threat to public health if they were consumed raw or after inadequate processing.