Fresh Farm Produce as a Source of Pathogens: A Review

Mritunjay, Sujeet Kumar; Kumar, Vipin

doi:10.3923/rjet.2015.59.70

Cited by 53 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Dating back from 1986 to 1995, about 0.95% of vegetables per capita and 0.38% fresh fruits per capita consumption were recorded, with China leading with the highest consumption of fruits accounting for 6.4% [40]. e lowest consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables was recorded to be 0.19% of vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa, and there was a decline in consumption rate in Africa and Near East Asian countries [40]. It has been revealed that the production of fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables has experienced a tremendous increment of about 94% from the year 1980 to 2004 [40].…”

Section: Global Consumption Of Fresh Fruits and Vegetablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Contamination, an Increasing Threat to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Today’s World

Balali

Yar

Dela

et al. 2020

International Journal of Microbiology

169

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Microbes are found all over the globe with some few exceptions, including sterilized surfaces. They include normal flora that is nonpathogenic, which contribute to the larger percentage, and pathogenic species which are few. Hence, the activities of humans cannot be completely separated from microbes. Thus, many pathogenic microbes have found their way into fresh fruits and vegetables which are a great source of a healthy diet for humans. The growing demand for fresh fruits and vegetables has necessitated larger production. The larger production of vegetables within the shortest possible time to meet the growing demand has placed them at a higher risk of contamination with the pathogenic microbes, making the safety of consumers uncertain. Study of sources of contamination and type of pathogenic etiological agents isolated from fresh fruits and vegetables includes Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum, E. coli O157: H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Shigella, Staphylococcus, and Vibrio cholera. Several measures have proven to be effective in controlling contamination of microbes and they include the establishment of surveillance systems to monitor the production chain and thoroughly washing vegetables with vinegar water. Saltwater and other washing techniques are effective but caution should be taken to make sure one does not use one cycle of water for washing all vegetables. The consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is still encouraged by this review but significant measures must be taken to check the safety of these products before consumption.

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Section: Global Consumption Of Fresh Fruits and Vegetablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Contamination, an Increasing Threat to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Today’s World

Balali

Yar

Dela

et al. 2020

International Journal of Microbiology

169

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Microbial contamination of fresh produce has been widely reviewed in the literature (Alegbeleye, Singleton, & Sant'Ana, 2018;Berger et al, 2010;Gutierrez-Rodriguez & Adhikari, 2018;Julien-Javaux, Gérard, Campagnoli & Zuber, 2019;Miceli & Settanni, 2019;Mritunjay & Kumar, 2015). When considering the farm-to-fork chain, microbial contamination of fresh produce can occur at multiple steps (Matthews, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Contamination of Fresh Produce: What, Where, and How?

Machado-Moreira

Richards

Brennan

et al. 2019

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

185

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Promotion of healthier lifestyles has led to an increase in consumption of fresh produce. Such foodstuffs may expose consumers to increased risk of foodborne disease, as often they are not subjected to processing steps to ensure effective removal or inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms before consumption. Consequently, reports of ready‐to‐eat fruit and vegetable related disease outbreak occurrences have increased substantially in recent years, and information regarding these events is often not readily available. Identifying the nature and source of microbial contamination of these foodstuffs is critical for developing appropriate mitigation measures to be implemented by food producers. This review aimed to identify the foodstuffs most susceptible to microbial contamination and the microorganisms responsible for disease outbreaks from information available in peer‐reviewed scientific publications. A total of 571 outbreaks were identified from 1980 to 2016, accounting for 72,855 infections and 173 deaths. Contaminated leafy green vegetables were responsible for 51.7% of reported outbreaks. Contaminated soft fruits caused 27.8% of infections. Pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli and Salmonella, norovirus, and hepatitis A accounted for the majority of cases. Large outbreaks resulted in particular biases such as the observation that contaminated sprouted plants caused 31.8% of deaths. Where known, contamination mainly occurred via contaminated seeds, water, and contaminated food handlers. There is a critical need for standardized datasets regarding all aspects of disease outbreaks, including how foodstuffs are contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. Providing food business operators with this knowledge will allow them to implement better strategies to improve safety and quality of fresh produce.

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“…Consumption of fresh vegetables has consistently increased over the last decades, since they are considered an important part of a healthy and low-calorie diet (Tirpanalan et al, 2011). Concomitantly, there is an increase in outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with the consumption of fresh produce (Brandl and Sundin, 2013; Mritunjay and Kumar, 2015). Lettuce is one of the vegetables, which often linked to outbreaks of foodborne diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salmonella enterica Growth Conditions Influence Lettuce Leaf Internalization

et al. 2019

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Human pathogens on plants (HPOP) have evolved complex interactions with their plant host. Stomatal internalization is one such mode of interaction, where bacteria are attracted to stomata and penetrate into the substomatal cavity by a process mediated by chemotaxis. Internalization enables HPOP to evade the hostile environment of the leaf surface and find a protected, nutrient-rich niche within the leaf. Numerous studies have documented attachment and entry of the foodborne pathogens, Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli into stomata. Internalization, however, varies considerably among different pathogens and in different plants, and both bacterial and plant’s factors were reported to influence HPOP attachment and internalization. Here we have studied the effect of laboratory growth conditions, on the internalization of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (STm) into lettuce leaf. We have further tested the potential involvement of universal stress-proteins in leaf internalization. We found that STm grown in Luria Bertani broth devoid of NaCl (LBNS), or in diluted LB (0.5×LB) internalized lettuce leaf better (62 ± 5% and 59 ± 7%, respectively) compared to bacteria grown in LB (15 ± 7%). Growth under non-aerated conditions also enhanced STm internalization compared to growth under aerated conditions. Growth temperature of 25 and 37°C did not affect STm internalization, however, growth at 42°C, significantly augmented leaf internalization. Since, the tested growth conditions represent moderate stresses, we further investigated the involvement of five universal-stress genes in STm leaf internalization following growth in LBNS medium. Knockout mutations in ydaA, yecG, ybdQ , and uspAB , but not in ynaF , significantly reduced STm internalization compared to the wild-type (wt) strain, without affecting bacterial attachment and motility. Transduction of the mutations back to the parent strain confirmed the linkage between the mutations and the internalization phenotype. These findings support a specific role of the universal-stress genes in leaf internalization. The present study highlights the complexity of bacterial internalization process and may provide partial explanation for the variable, sometimes-contrasting results reported in the literature regarding stomatal internalization by HPOP. Characterization of the regulatory networks that mediate the involvement of usp genes and the tested growth factors in STm internalization should contribute to our understanding of human pathogens-plant interactions.

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Fresh Farm Produce as a Source of Pathogens: A Review

Cited by 53 publications

References 36 publications

Microbial Contamination, an Increasing Threat to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Today’s World

Microbial Contamination, an Increasing Threat to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Today’s World

Microbial Contamination of Fresh Produce: What, Where, and How?

Salmonella enterica Growth Conditions Influence Lettuce Leaf Internalization

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