Abstract
Many Solidarity Economic Venture (SEV) are family farmers who seek to add value to production through artisanal processing, which can lead to food contamination. Thus, this study aimed to genotypically characterize thermotolerant coliforms (TtC) strains from food produced by local agribusinesses of SEV during January to April 2019. Samples from thirteen production units (PU) from the SEV were submitted to a microbiological analysis of thermotolerant coliforms (AFNOR 3M1/2 - 09/89), using a fast count method in Petrifilm™ dishes. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique was used to verify the following virulence genes (VGs) associated with Escherichia coli: stx, typical from enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC); bfpA typical from entheropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and elt and slt, typical from entherotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). The results showed that two samples of queijadinha (typical Brazilian candy made with eggs and coconut) and one sample of cassava cake presented characteristic colonies TtC. This way, three strains were isolated in order to perform the PCR technique. However, the genes used in the reaction were not detected in the isolated strains. Therefore, it is suggested that the isolated strains are from E. coli pathotypes with different virulence genes than the ones analyzed belong other types of TtC, such as Enterobacter and Klebsiella. Although the virulence of genes has not been confirmed, the presence of TtC on food indicates hygiene flaws during production and, therefore, measurements to control and prevent contamination should be taken.
Highlights
Solidary Economic Ventures (SEVs) adopt initiatives that favor the generation of new ways of production, labor and income
Considering the scarcity of studies involving the research of virulence genes in food isolates from family agriculture and the importance of E. coli as an etiological agent of foodborne illness, the objective of this work was to genotypically characterize the isolates of thermotolerant coliforms (TtC) from foods produced by farms and processing facilities from a Solidarity Economic Venture (SEV)
Out of the 65 analyzed samples, two samples from the queijadinha batch and one sample from the cassava cake batch presented colonies that are consistent with bacteria from the TtC group (Figure 1)
Summary
Solidary Economic Ventures (SEVs) adopt initiatives that favor the generation of new ways of production, labor and income. There was an increase in the number of cooperatives in Brazil and agricultural production cooperatives increased from 1,548 in 2010 to 1,613 in 2018 (OCB, 2019). Many of these groups seek to add economic value to their agricultural production through processing. Many times the processing of the raw materials is made in an artisanal fashion (Ribeiro, 2017; Rodrigues et al, 2015). Artisanal food processing may be a risk to the occurrence of Foodborne Diseases due to the presence of microorganisms in food, utensils and/or manufacturers. The adoption of Good Manufacturing Practices during the processing of products is essential (Silva et al, 2017)
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