Evaluation of Bacillus cereus contamination in packed Mazafati dates

Atharinia, Masoomeh; Nojoumi, Seyyed Ali

doi:10.5899/2014/jgmi-00010

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Generally fresh dates may carry nonpathogenic epiphytic microorganisms, but presence of pathogens/microorganisms, including Escherichia coli , Salmonella spp., Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus cereus , Aspergillus spp., Alternaria spp., and Fusarium spp. [2, 4, 5], in date flesh in a level higher than the satisfactory limit set by the responsible regulatory bodies is a potential public health risk from the food safety view point. In addition to bacteria and molds, sometimes the association of osmotolerant yeasts species in date flesh may occur even after packaging and refrigeration, being marked as another important cause that can affect the quality of dates [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological Quality Assessment of Popular Fresh Date Samples Available in Local Outlets of Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Zamir

Islam

Rahman

et al. 2018

International Journal of Food Science

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It is evident that date fruits provide a wide variety of essential nutrients which impart potential human health benefits. In Bangladesh, the popularity of date and its consumption surge few-fold during Ramadan among Muslims owing to the profound emotion related to religious belief that breaking of dawn-to-dusk fasting with dates is fulfilling a Sunnah. The present study aimed to explore the microbiological quality of the five most popular fresh date samples (Nagal, Dhapas, Boroi, Morium, and Tunisia) purchased from different locations of Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Among 25 samples tested, 23 were observed to carry 3.30-5.65 Log CFU/gm aerobic bacteria and 3.30-5.36 Log CFU/gm yeasts and molds population. Coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli were not found in any of the samples analyzed in this study. However, except Nagal and Boroi from Mohammadpur and Mirpur, respectively, none of the samples were found safe to consume according to the microbiological grade recommended by Woolworths Quality Assurance Standard (WQAS), 2009, as fresh dates with microbial load can cause food poisoning or even foodborne intoxication. Date samples with less or no processing is responsible for this contamination which can be subsided and eliminated by appropriate handling and hygiene practices during postharvest processing.

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