Presence of escherichia coli and total coliform in raw, ready-to-eat vegetables in Puncak Alam / Siti Noraqilah Amran

In Malaysia, ready-to-eat vegetables are famous and chosen by consumers that can be get from food premise or supermarket. In food premise, examples of ready-to-eat vegetables sold are (ulam) ulam raja, lettuce, cucumber, winged bean and others. As for supermarket, there were mixed salad, cherry tomatoes that ready-to-eat, and come with the sauce seasoning. The study was conducted at food premises and supermarket around Puncak Alam with 44 samples of ready-to-eat vegetables, leafy and non-leafy. The samples are analyzed in laboratory of UiTM Puncak Alam. The 44 samples were analyzed in sterile procedure from both place, then homogenized with peptone water and the solution were spread plated onto medium agar for 24 hours in 37 C. The study design was cross sectional study and statistical analysis used was T-test and Mann Whitney in SPSS version 21. The result show the presence of both bacteria which is Escherichia Coli and total coliform in all samples analyzed. Presence of Escherichia Coli in 44 samples of ready-to-eat vegetables both leafy and non-leafy with mean and standard deviation of colony forming unit (log cfu/mL) 2.5 ± 1.5. While for presence of total coliform in samples, the mean and standard deviation for all samples both leafy and nonleafy was 4.3 ± 0.6. The hypothesis testing are accepted where food premise have higher numbers of colony forming unit (CFUs) for both Escherichia Coli and total coliform. For comparison between leafy and non-leafy vegetables in food premise, result obtained was leafy vegetables have higher numbers of colony forming unit (CFUs) than non-leafy for Escherichia Coli and total coliform with significant differences. As for supermarket‟s comparison, higher numbers of colony forming unit (CFUs) are non-leafy vegetables species but no significant differences between that. The bacterial counts for all samples analyzed were similar to results found from study before, however, ready-to-eat vegetables analyzed are not acceptable for human consumption. Therefore, mitigation measure need to be taken to prevent the occurrence of foodborne disease from ready-to-eat vegetables.