Influence of sprouting environment on the microbiota of sprouts

Abstract

Sprouts are popular for health conscious and vegetarian consumers; however, this produce item has been associated with frequent foodborne outbreaks. To understand the influence of the sprouting environment on the microbiota colonizing the sprout, microbial populations of both sprouting seeds and sprouts were characterized using terminal fragment length polymorphism analysis. The dominant microbial populations on mung bean, alfalfa, and broccoli seeds over the course of germination were compared to the microbiota of commercially grown sprouts that were grown from seeds from the same distributer. Regardless of the initial population, similar organismal families were found on all final sprout varieties and was primarily composed of Pseudomonadaceae. Commercially germinated sprout varieties had lower abundances of Pseudomonadaceae for all three varieties, and housed more diverse microbial families, such as Bacillaceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Phyllobacteriacae, and Lactobacillaceae. Practical applicationsObservations from this manuscript can be used to better understand the impact the sprouting environment has on the microbial population of the final sprout product. The microbiota of sprout varieties, as described in this manuscript, may help understand microbial spoilage factors of sprout products. By understanding the microbial populations of sprouts, the observed benefits of sprouting seeds/beans in previously used sprout water and the use of competitive exclusion techniques can progress forward. HI GH L IG HT SSprouts are a common vector for foodborne pathogensThe microbiota of sprouts differs from the initial microbiota of sprouting seedsThe microbiota of sprouts was dependent on the sprouting environment

Prevalence and molecular characterization of Escherichia coli isolates during radish sprout production in the Republic of Korea

“…Coliforms were more prevalent in tray (4.96 ± 1.44), cutting board (5.62 ± 0.59) and glove (4.30 ± 0.00) from farm A and basket (5.57 ± 0.49), cutting board (5.40 ± 0.93) and glove (4.82 ± 0.11) from B during summer season compared to all the other samples including water (< 2 log CFU/ml), agricultural materials (< 3 log CFU/ml). Corresponding to our findings, several studies have reported increased microbial levels in postharvest sprouts than in seeds [18,20]. The incidence of E. coli was significantly higher in the preharvest (50%) and postharvest (39%) sprouts and water samples (33%) from farms B and C. E. coli was detected in the basket (5%), glove (16%), and knife (11%) samples, while no E. coli were detected in the other samples.…”

Sprouts as probiotic carriers: A new trend to improve consumer nutrition

“…The cereal germination technique has been recognized as a method to improve the nutritional quality of whole grains, due to the changes it causes in nutritional and physicochemical properties. Moreover, it has been found in the literature that grain germination leads to the development of changes in the structure of the microbiota by increasing the process of utilization of carbon and nitrogen sources by probiotic microorganisms ( Barret et al, 2015 , Landry et al, 2018 , Perri et al, 2020 ).…”