Bacterial evaluation of ready-to-eat sliced fruits sold for human consumption in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Introduction: Safety after consumption of ready-to-eat sliced fruits often sold by road sides is of concern. The fruits are sliced by unschooled fruit sellers with little or no knowledge of hygienic protocols for achieving food safety. Consumption of such exposed food may not be without challenges in food safety. Aim and Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the safety of ready to-eat sliced fruit sold for human consumption. The objectives include finding out bacterial contamination of the fruits, bacterial load on the fruits and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of isolated bacteria. Materials and methods: Twenty samples each of sliced pawpaw, watermelon and pineapple were evaluated for bacterial contamination using standard microbiological procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolated bacteria were tested. Results: Ninety bacteria isolates belonging to five bacterial genera were recorded. Of these isolates, Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 34.3 %, followed by Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae [17.2 % each], Salmonella typhi [15.2%], Pseudomonas aeruginosa [9.1 %] and lastly other salmonellae [7.1 %]. The total aerobic counts range from 9.36 x 105 to 7.25 x 106 /ml of fruit homogenate. Pawpaw recorded the heaviest contamination followed by watermelon and pineapple. Augmentin and cefuroxime recorded the highest mean percentage antibiotic resistance of 83.3 each, followed by ceftaxidime and cefixime [66.7 each], gentamicin [16.7]; ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin recorded no resistance against all the bacteria. Conclusion: The mean total aerobic microbial counts on sliced fruits were beyond acceptable limit for human consumption. Public enlightenment and training of fruit vendors is hereby advocated to reduce possible hazards due to consumption of these products in Nigeria and Ado-Ekiti in particular.