Bacteriological Analysis of Street Vended Fresh Fruit and Vegetable

Abstract: Fruit juices are an important part of the diet of all age groups due to the associated health benefits. Fresh squeezed juices of pineapple, sweet lime and vegetable juices sold by street vendors in Nagpur city were analysed for their microbiological quality. The samples were randomly collected from local vendors in the city. A total of 38 samples were analysed for total viable count, total and fecal coliforms, staphylococci on mannitol salt agar and salmonella. The total viable count in all the fruit and vegetable samples were in the range of 2.0x10 4 – 4.6x106. There was no significant difference between the total coliform and staphylococcal counts in juices collected from different locations. Almost 50 % of the fruit and vegetable juices also showed the presence of Salmonella. The findings in the present study indicate poor handling practices and therefore the risk presented to the consumers suggest the urgent need for spreading awareness and measures to improve microbial quality of street vended juices. Adherence to the HACCP system should be made a mandatory requirement to improve the quality of fruit juices. Programs to educate the fruit juice vendors need to be initiated