FOOD. Science. Technology. Quality

Food. SCIENCE. Technology. Quality

Food. Science. TECHNOLOGY. Quality

Food. Science. Technology. QUALITY

Authors

MAGDALENA MICHALCZYK, JOANNA KOWALIŃSKA

Title

Microbial contamination of commercially available sprouted seeds

Abstract

In the present paper, the level of microbiological contamination of commercially available sprouted seeds was determined, as well as the effect of two washing methods on the possibility of reducing the quantity of detected microflora. In the majority of cases, the aerobic colony count determined was within the range from 10to 1010 cfu/g, Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria counts ranged from 10to 108 cfu/g, while yeasts and moulds counts were between 10and 105 cfu/g. Among Enterobacteriaceae, the following were isolated: Klebsiella, typical Enterobacter, typical Escherichia coli, atypical Escherichia coli, and Serratia. In the most cases, neither washing with tap water (30 s) nor washing with 5-minute dipping in brine (5 %) prior to washing significantly affected the reduction in the microbial contamination of the products studied. In all the bacterial groups under analysis, this reduction did not exceed 1 log cycle. Since the consumers are not able to effectively decrease the level of microbial contamination, it is necessary to do it as early as at the stage of production.

Keywords

sprouted seeds, microbial contamination, washing

Download

Skip to content