This study was undertaken to assess the microbiological quality and prevalence of pathogens in organic vegetables produced in Korea. A total of 189 organically grown vegetable samples (perilla leaf 50, lettuce 50, tomato 39, cucumber 50) were analyzed for the presence of aerobic plate count, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica. The total aerobic plate counts were in the range of 4.2 to 7.7 log CFU g -1 for perilla leaf, 5.0 to 8.0 log CFU g -1 for lettuce, 4.0 to 7.5 log CFU g -1 for tomato, and 6.6 to 8.6 log CFU g -1 for cucumber. The highest counts were found in cucumber. E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and Y. enterocolitica were not detected from any organically grown vegetable samples. This research suggests that continuous monitoring in organic vegetables is required to improve fresh produce safety.

This study is aimed to investigate microbiological contamination of Angelica gigas Nakai. A total of 111 samples including root, soil, and irrigation water were collected from farms and market to detect aerobic bacteria, Bacillus cereus, coliform, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes,. Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus. The contaminations of aerobic bacteria, coliform, and Bacillus cereus in the root during cultivation were found 6.71 log CFU g -1 , 4.13 log CFU g -1 , and 3.54 log CFU g -1 , respectively. The contamination of coliform and B. cereus were detected in all steps from harvesting to processing, with the highest count recorded from the cutting step. In marketing, the contaminations of aerobic bacterial, coliform, and B. cereus were 5.5～6.0 log CFU g -1 , 2.4～2.6 log CFU g -1 , and 3.5～4.0 log CFU g -1 , respectively. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp, and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected in any of samples. This result indicated that hygienic soil management and post harvest management should be performed to reduce the contamination of hazard microorganisms and to produce safe agro-products.