DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i04.054

Pages: 1398-1401

This study aims to investigate the microbiological quality of fresh vegetables collected from several cultural ,agricultural sites, Supermarkets, Central vegetable market in Hail city during the summer2012. A total of 15 vegetable samples lettuce, Arugula and cucumber were tested to assess the biochemical and microbial contamination levels. The microbiological quality of fresh vegetables ranged from 4.3 to 10.4 log10 CFU/ g (aerobic bacteria); 0.71- 2.0 log10 CFU /g (coliforns); and 1.0 to 8.77 log10 CFU g-1 (E. coli) .Lettuce samples had significantly higher microbial loads including coliforms, E. coli and Aerobic plate count than Arugula and cucumber samples. In addition, samples from open markets had higher microbial loads, coliform, and E. coli than the samples collected from the other sites. Moreover, High percentage of E. coli was recovered from lettuce (43%) than those recovered in Arugula and cucumber samples (38 %) (19 %), respectively. Whereas significant coliforms were detected in lettuce samples (52%) compared to those from Arugula and cucumber samples (38%) (10%), respectively. This study showed that raw lettuce and Arugula which are usually used may contain hazardous pathogens that may affect human health.