The Prevalence of Aeromonas Species in Salad Vegetables Sourced from Four Local Government Areas of Plateau State

Abstract

The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Aeromonas species in five salad vegetables, namely lettuce, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, and green pepper, in four local government areas of Plateau state. Aeromonas species have been linked to a number of gastroenteritis outbreaks connected to the consumption of contaminated fresh vegetables and fruits. In Nigeria, the use of untreated wastewater in irrigation is often regarded as an unavoidable alternative for compensating for water scarcity. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Aeromonas species in salad vegetables from four local government areas of Plateau State. 800 lettuce samples, including 160 lettuces, 160 cabbages, 160 carrots, 160 cucumbers and 160 green peppers, were analyzed for the presence of Aeromonas species using standard isolation, identification and characterization methods. Of the 800 samples, 202 samples were positive. Aeromonas spp. was isolated from 60(7.50%) lettuce samples, 52(6.50%) cabbage samples, 35(4.38%) carrot samples, 30(3.77%) cucumber samples and 25(3.12%) green pepper samples making lettuce the vegetable with the highest prevalence of the organism. According to the findings, samples of salad vegetables from Lamingo had the highest percentage prevalence of Aeromonas species, at 45 (6.25%), followed by samples from Miango, at 42 (5.25%), and samples from Vom, at 37 (4.64%) had the lowest percentage prevalence of the organism. According to the statistical analysis's findings, the prevalence of the organism in various vegetable types with relation to the study locations did not differ significantly (p>0.05) at the 95% confidence level. The incidence of Aeromonas species isolated from the various study regions varied significantly depending on the season, with the organism being more prevalent during the wet season (3.7%) than during the dry season (1.35%).