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http://dx.doi.org/10.13103/JFHS.2013.28.4.324

Survey of Microbial Contamination of Tomatoes at Farms in Korea  

Kim, Won-Il (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Jo, A-Ra (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Lee, Ju-Han (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Kim, Se-Ri (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Park, Kyeong-Hun (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Nam, Ki-Woong (Research Institute of International Agriculture, Technology and Information, Hankyong National University)
Yoon, Yohan (Department of Food & Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Sookmyung Women's University)
Yoon, Deok-Hoon (Research Institute of International Agriculture, Technology and Information, Hankyong National University)
Oh, So-Yong (Research Institute of International Agriculture, Technology and Information, Hankyong National University)
Lee, Mun Haeng (Buyeo Tomato Experiment Station, Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services)
Ryu, Jae-Gee (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Kim, Hwang-Yong (Microbial Safety Team, Department of Crop Life Safety, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA)
Publication Information
Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety / v.28, no.4, 2013 , pp. 324-329 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study investigated and evaluated contamination levels of bacteria on tomatoes at farms stage to evaluate potential hazards associated with fresh tomatoes. A total of 170 samples, 90 samples from 5 sampling sites from 18 farms and 80 samples from 1 sampling site from 4 farms every month for four months, were analyzed to enumerate aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms, E. coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 0.48 to 6.15 Log CFU/g, with the lowest and the highest bacterial cell counts recorded for A site and E site, respectively. Thirty five percent of the samples from the E site contained more than 2 Log CFU/g. Six samples (6.6%) of 90 samples contained B. cereus less than 1 Log CFU/g. In addition, the contamination level of indicator bacteria and B. cereus in tomatoes were higher on March than on April, May and June (P < 0.05). S. aureus, E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were not detected in the tomato samples. The microbial contamination levels of tomatoes determined in this study may be used as the data for microbiological risk assessment.
Keywords
tomato; microbiological quality; food-borne pathogen;
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