Microbiological quality of fresh lettuce sold at Lilongwe market, Malawi: Does purchasing time matter?

Abstract

Fifteen (15) samples of fresh lettuce were bought from Lilongwe city market, Malawi in the morning, afternoon and evening and were examined for microbiological quality. Counts ranged from 1.2×10 5 to 6.9×10 5 cfu/g for total Enterobacteriaceae and 1.5×10 4 to 1.1×10 6 mpn/g for total coliforms. Higher total Enterobacteriaceae and total coliform counts in the afternoon samples and presence of fecal coliforms in all evening samples suggested that comparatively safer lettuce was sold in the morning. Poor handling practices at the market and temperature abuse could be responsible for contamination and microbial proliferation during retail of the lettuce.

Achieving an Integrated Approach to Food Safety and Hygiene—Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Routine surveillance is constrained by underdeveloped infrastructure and services and limited research on the bacteriological [29][30][31][32][33] and chemical contamination [4,5,[34][35][36] of food, with the majority of Malawi-based data held in grey literature and academic institutions. Significant steps have been made in surveillance of aflatoxins due to their political exposure and significant impact on both trade and health.…”

Assessment of the Risk of Microbial Contamination of an Urban Crop in the City of Daloa (Côte d'Ivoire): Case of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

“…The same flora had also been identified in urban production lettuce in other works (Mohammad et al, 2013). Similarly, Koffi et al (2011), Mngoli & Ng'ong'ola-Manani, (2014 and Akusu et al (2016) isolated enterobacteria in lettuce in similar studies in Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi and Nigeria, respectively. The strong presence of these microfloras would translate into a marked deficit of good production and hygiene practices in the study site.…”