Bacterial contamination of vegetables sold at Oba market Akure in Southwest Nigeria

Vegetables provides nutrients vital for health and maintenance of the body. As good and beneficial vegetables are, it can also be an harbinger for transmission of contamination and bacterial infections when not properly handled especially in the course of buying and selling in the market for consumption.

A cross sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022, to assess the level of bacterial contamination of vegetables, this is the basis of the objective of this study.

Method: Selected vegetables were purchased from local vendors from market. lt was processed for examination in the Microbiology laboratory where standard cultural techniques was carried out to identify, isolate and characterize the bacterial isolated.

Result: Of the 280 vegetables samples examined, 102 (36.4%) were positive for bacteria while 178 (63.6%) had no bacteria isolated. The bacteria pathogens isolated were; Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella species and Proteus mirabilis

Conclusion; There was bacterial contamination from the result. The role of Environmental Health Officers to educate and sensitize the local vendors to monitor and ensure vegetables are properly displaced in shelves and provided in hygienic manner will reduce the contaminations and bacterial infection.