To date, cholera has cycle the world seven times through the seven pandemic cycles that has
affected tens of millions of people. The objective of this study was to determine the presence
and density as well as the antibiotic resistance profile of Vibrio cholerae isolated from catfish
(Pangasius hypohthalamus). From the combination of the Most Probable Number-Polymerase
Chain Reaction-plating on TCBS agar methods, V. cholerae was detected in 32 samples and
V. cholerae O139 was detected in 7 samples, with a density ranging between
Irrespective of its health effects, street foods are very popular with the consumers. The main
purpose of this research was to study the biosafety of Escherichia coli in popiah, a Malaysian
street food sold at a roadside food stall and a restaurant in Sri Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia,
using the combination of the most probable number (MPN)-Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) assay-plating on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar methods. Using these biomolecular
methods, E. coli was detected in 12/15 (80%) and 11/15 (73%) of the collected samples from
the roadside food stall and the restaurant respectively. The incidence of stx virulence-associated
genes was detected in 1/15 (7%) among the E. coli isolated from samples taken from the
roadside food stall while the E. coli isolated from the restaurant was 3/15 (20%). The density
of E. coli ranged from 1100 MPN/g and the density of E. coli positive with stx genes
was
As the society begin to realize the importance of combating antimicrobial resistance, going
back to silver might be the solution. Silver has been known for its potential antimicrobial
activity since ancient times and, the development of nanoparticles has increased its potential
into becoming an antimicrobial agent that can be applied in broad-spectrum. Antimicrobial
resistance has spread into an irrepressible manner which requires drastic action plan as a number
of pathogenic bacteria began to acquire resistance genes. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) is one of the earliest reported resistant clones which is the center of this study.
This study focused on the dissemination and evolution of MRSA on its resistance towards
antibiotics. Disc Diffusion Test was employed to create the antibiograms of MRSA isolates. All
isolates showed resistance towards amoxicillin, ampicillin, cefazolin, oxacillin and penicillin.
In contrast, all isolates were susceptible towards erythromycin. The findings also discovered
isolates that were vancomycin-resistant (66.7%) and vancomycin-intermediate (33.3%). As the
efficacy of antibiotic treatment is at a question, we also investigated on the antimicrobial activity
of colloidal silver in the hope as an alternative treatment. Shiga Toxin producing Escherichia
coli (STEC) and MRSA (ATCC 33591) was tested using modified Quantitative suspension
test for the evaluation of bactericidal activity for chemical disinfectants and antiseptics based
on BS EN 1276:2009. The outcome of this study indicated that the colloidal silver is working
effectively against STEC and MRSA (ATCC 33591), showing killing percentages well above
99.0% at 4 minutes and 8 minutes of contact. Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) and
Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) were also tested and the results indicated that
VISA had higher killing percentages at 4 minutes (99.83%) and 8 minutes (99.85%) compared
to VRSA at 4 minutes (96.72%) and 8 minutes (98.35%). This opens a solution to the rising
problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is well known to be abundantly distributed in marine, coastal and
estuarine environments. Since 1951, V. parahaemolyticus had been the source of numerous
outbreaks related to contaminated or mishandled seafood. However, V. parahaemolyticus
had been detected on other types of food. This issue has prompted this study to investigate
on the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus in various food samples and determine the risk
associated with it. The results of the MPN-plating technique of the study indicated that V.
parahaemolyticus was detected in seafood (33.3%, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 31.9 – 34.8 ,
94 – 290 MPN/g) and vegetables (10.0%, 95% CI 9.7 – 10.3 , 9.2 – 23 MPN/g) while negative
V. parahaemolyticus was detected in fruits (0.0%, 95% CI 0 – 1,
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic Gram-negative bacterium that is considered among
gastrointestinal pathogens. Thirty isolates were tested for their susceptibility using 14 different
antibiotics. One V. parahaemolyticus isolate was resistant to 10 antibiotics (cefotaxime,
ceftazidime, tetracycline, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, ampicillin,
amoxicillin-calv-acid, and cefepime). The V. parahaemolyticus isolates were resistant to
ampicillin (90%), amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (63.3%), cefotaxime (60%), ceftazidime (46.7%),
cefepime (50%), tetracycline (36.6%), and amikacin (26.7%). However, the isolates were highly
susceptible to imipenem (100%), and piperacillin and gentamicin (96.7%). Approximately
55% of the isolates showed a multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of >0.2, thereby
indicating the high risk of sources where these isolates originated. The occurrence of MAR
asserted the importance of determining drug susceptibility and monitoring the antimicrobial
resistance profile to improve and ensure food safety and public health.
Nowadays, the incidence rate of foodborne disease has increased and become one of the global burdens affecting all individual ages in South East Asia region. Foodborne disease is responsible for mortality and morbidity worldwide thus affecting socio-economic and quality of life. Major causes of foodborne hazards diseases include diarrheal and invasive infectious disease agent, helminthes and chemicals. However, in developing countries, data and record is insufficient with poor surveillance systems leading to incomplete information on the real burden of foodborne disease. The introduction of Actor Network Theory (ANT) as tools for assessing and analyzing the food safety issues has drawn attention from various researcher as it is proven to be able to point out and identify the human and non human actors which is directly and contingently involved. The interaction between the actors such as a worker in an organization, student in school, and peoples in public provide information that can be used to minimize the risk of foodborne disease. The ultimate use of ANT is it helps the researcher to draw a framework of the source of contamination, agent responsible, factors involved, and idea to control the spread.
The effects of methanolic extract of Javanese turmeric (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb.) at different level of concentrations on the inactivation of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju) were investigated. This study was conducted principally for the achievement on the best combination between the
susceptibility of C. xanthorrhiza extract on natural microflora and foodborne pathogenic bacteria with the sensory acceptability of the soaked oyster mushroom. Three different concentrations (g/ml), 0.05%, 0.50% and 5.00%, of C. xanthorrhiza extract prepared with dilution method were designed as sanitizing agent in treating the oyster mushroom at 5 minutes and 10 minutes.
There was significance reduction in the survival of microbial load between the untreated fresh oyster mushroom and those soaked with 0.05%, 0.50% and 5.00% rhizome extract (P
Salmonella remains to be a major foodborne pathogen for animals and humans and is the
leading cause of foodborne infections and outbreaks in various countries. Salmonella Enteritidis
is one of the most frequently isolated serotypes in poultry and poultry products from human
food poisoning cases. It can cause mild to acute gastroenterititis as well as other common
food poisoning symptoms when infection takes place in human. Nucleic acid amplification
technologies such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a tool that is rapid and sensitive
for detection of bacterial pathogen. We report the successful detection of S. Enteritidis by
PCR in raw chicken meat artificially-contaminated with serial concentration of S. Enteritidis
using crude DNA extracts as DNA template. PCR primers, ENT-F and ENT-R targeted on sdfI
gene were used to amplify DNA region unique to S. Enteritidis with crude DNA extract of the
samples, yielded product with the size of 303 bp. These primers were specific to S. Enteritidis
when tested by in-silico simulation against genome database of targeted bacterial species and
confirmed in PCR as amplification bands were observed with S. Typhimurium, S. Polarum and
S. Gallinarum. The established PCR can detect as few as 9.4 X 101
CFU/ml of inoculated S.
Enteritidis concentration and proved that pre-enrichment effect have significant effect on PCR
detection by increasing 1000-fold of the sensitivity limit compared to the non pre-enriched
samples. The PCR technique indicated that it can be successfully coupled with pre-enrichment
step to offer advantage in routine screening and surveillance of bacterial contamination in food
samples.
Escherichia coli and Escherichia coli O157 were identified from “selom” (Oenanthe stolonifera), “pegaga” (Centella asiatica), beef, chicken, lamb, buffalo, “ulam Raja” (Cosmos caudatus) and “tenggek burung” (Euodia redlevi). The bacteria were recovered using chromagenic agar. Isolated Escherichia coli and Escherichia coli 0157 were further characterized by plasmid profiling and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR). The virulence genes of the isolates (VT1, VT2, LT, ST, eaeA, inV) that produces pathogenic Escherichia coli and 16S rRNA gene were screened by a multiplex PCR assay. The plasmid profiling analysis showed that out of 176 isolates, only 103 isolates contained plasmids. ERIC-PCR analysis generated amplified products in the range of ~150 bp to > 1000 bp categorizing isolates into a total of 52 different profiles. Multiplex PCR showed that 20 (32.3%) of the isolates carried eaeA gene, 6 (9.7%) isolates possessed inV genes, only 1 (1.6%) have VT2 genes and 1 (1.6%) as well carried VT1 genes, 2 (3.2%) of the isolates harboured LT genes, and only 1 (1.6%) isolate possessed ST genes. There were no correlation between plasmid, ERIC-PCR and virulence genes profiles.
The antibacterial activity of solvent-extracted oil of noni (Morinda citrifolia L.), spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), lady’s finger (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench), bitter gourd (Momordica charantia Linn.), and mustard (Brassica nigra L.) seed oils, and coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) oil, palm (Elaeis guineensis L.) mesocarp in hydrolyzed and unhydrolyzed form were determined in order to explore their potential usage as antibacterial agent. The hydrolysis process that was catalyzed by immobilized lipase of Rhizomucor miehei (RMIM) showed highest hydrolytic activity with 1.0 ml of added water volume except bitter gourd seed oil and palm mesocarp oil which has maximum hydrolytic activity with added water volume of 5 ml and 2.5 ml respectively. Before hydrolysis, all oil samples did not show inhibition ring zones (IRZ) on any of the tested bacteria strains (Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7). Hydrolyzed lady’s finger and bitter gourd seed oil showed IRZ on all tested bacteria strains; hydrolyzed mustard seed oil on S. typhimurium and L. monocytogenes; hydrolyzed spinach seed oil and coconut oil on L. monocytogenes; hydrolyzed noni seed oil and palm mesocarp oil did not exhibit IRZ on any of the tested bacteria strains. Most of the hydrolyzed oil exhibit an inhibition activity that was different from their respective dominant fatty acids except noni seed oil and palm mesocarp oil.
Salmonella has been reported to be presence both in raw and processed foods worldwide. In this study, the prevalence, quantification and antibiotic susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from raw vegetables or locally known as ulam such as asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica (L) Urb), water dropwort (Oenanthe javanica (Blume) DC), long bean (Vigna sinensis EndL), and winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L) DC) obtained from retail markets in Selangor, Malaysia were carried out. From 96 samples tested, the overall prevalence of Salmonella spp. was 97.9%, Salmonella Enteritidis was 54.2% and Salmonella Typhimurium was 82.3% respectively. Samples were contaminated with Salmonella ranging from < 3 to 2400 MPN/g. Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium isolates obtained from the raw vegetables (ulam) were found to exhibit high resistance against ampicillin (100%), erythromycin (100%), amoxicillin/clavunic acid (81.3%), cephalothin (75%), streptomycin (50%) and ciprofloxacin (50%). All Salmonella isolates showed multi drug resistant (MDR) profile with each isolate being resistant to 3 or more antibiotics. The multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of Salmonella isolates ranged from 0.27 to 0.55 for Salmonella Enteritidis and 0.27 to 0.82 for Salmonella Typhimurium. The presence of Salmonella on raw vegetables (ulam) and high antibiotic resistance isolates indicated that raw vegetables could be contaminated and thus imposes possible health risk to local consumers.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a foodborne pathogen associated with pneumoniae. Multiresistance to antibiotics of K. pneumoniae is a significant public health treat. Recently, the use of natural products such as herbs to inhibit the growth of pathogens is increasing. Java turmeric (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb.) has been reported to possess antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens. Unfortunately, the antibacterial activity of java turmeric extract against the resistance to multiantibiotics of K. pneumoniae has not been investigated. In this study, the antibacterial activity of Java turmeric extract was tested against 24 isolates of resistant K. pneumoniae that was isolated from several vegetables; lettuce, cucumber, tomato and carrot, using the methods recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CSLI), including disc diffusion method, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) and killing time at concentration 0× MIC, ½× MIC, 1× MIC, 2× MIC and 4× MIC with predetermined time of 0, 0.25 , 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 h. The results showed that Java turmeric extract is susceptible to all resistant K. pneumoniae with inhibition zones ranging from 8.67 ± 0.58 to 10.00 ± 0.00 mm. The MIC and MBC values for the K. pneumoniae isolates against all bacterial isolates was 1.25 and 2.5 mg/ml, respectively. The killing time curve shows the reduction of resistant K. pneumoniae cells is fast acting; > 3 log10 within less than 15 min at 4× MIC (5.0 mg/ml). Finally, the isolates were completely killed at 4× MIC for 15 min. In conclusion, the Java turmeric extracts can be developed as natural antimicrobial agent to inhibit the growth of K. pneumoniae in food system.
This cross sectional study aimed to explored the pattern of socio-demographic distribution, to assess the level of KAP of food safety; and the relationship with the level of premise cleanliness in the food courts at Putrajaya. Distribution of food handlers socio-demographic profile was Malaysian (62.0%), male (70.4%), working experienced in food industry (82.0%) and attended food handler training (85.0%). The mean age was 28.7 years and 85.4% having income not less than RM 1,500 monthly. 78.5% of the food handlers at educational level were found as primary/secondary school. 15.0% of the respondents had not attended the food sanitation training. The findings reveal that food handlers’ KAP were high with a mean percentage score more than 79.0%.The majority of the food courts in Putrajaya had consistently moderate level of cleanliness (63.5%) with the mean of 83.03%. Only 27.4% of the food courts were in the level of clean situation (>89% of premise cleanliness score) and 9.1% were not in the clean condition (
Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is an important foodborne pathogen which can cause foodborne listeriosis with high mortality rates especially in susceptible population groups such as pregnant women, elderly and immunocompromised individuals. The biosafety level of L. monocytogenes in chicken offal has becomes a great concern as chicken offal is a cheap source of protein and it is often served as side dishes in South East Asian countries. In Malaysia, the consumption of chicken offal has almost doubled from 5 g per capita per day in the early 1980s to 9 g per capita per day in 2009. In this study, risk assessment was conducted to estimate the risk of acquiring listeriosis from consumption of chicken offal in Malaysia. A microbial survey on the prevalence and concentration of L. monocytogenes in chicken offal were carried out in Selangor, Malaysia over a one-year period (November 2010 to October 2011). It was assumed that there were no seasonal changes in the prevalence and consumption pattern all year round. Assuming that 5.6 million people in Selangor, Malaysia consume a single serving (125 g) of chicken offal per week, it is estimated that in a year there could be 0.61 cases and 1.98 × 10-4 cases of listeriosis per 100,000 population of pregnant woman and immunocompromised individual, respectively. However, the potential for getting listeriosis among the healthy population was very low, only 1.39 × 10-8 cases per 100,000 population. This study demonstrated risk assessment model not only used as a tool to estimate the risk of acquiring illness but it can influence public health surveillance and providing data in setting appropriate level of protection.
A good temperature management, such as precooling and cold storage, can delay deterioration of fresh produce. In this study, different forced-air precooling times were applied on Musa AAA Berangan to investigate the influence of forced-air precooling time on the changes of quality attributes and consumer acceptance. The banana was subjected to forced-air precooling treatment (5 ± 1°C) for 0, 14, 50, and 120 min and then stored in a cold room (13 ± 1°C) for 2 weeks. Then, all the fruits were transferred to a ripening room (25 ± 2°C) and initiated to ripen with ethylene gas. Quality attributes analyses and sensory evaluations were conducted when the fruits reached maturity index 5. Quality parameters, such as soluble solids concentration, titratable acidity, pulp firmness, and peel colour, showed no significant differences when fruits were precooled at different times. Blackening of peel as a result of chilling injury occurred in fruits treated with forced-air precooling for 50 and 120 min. This blackening significantly influenced consumer acceptance, although it did not affect the pulp colour and taste.
Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the leading causes of bacterial gastroenteritis in many countries. Among the strains examined, 36 RAPD-types were found when amplified with primers OPA8 and OPA10. The analysis shows the majority of V. parahaemolyticus isolates originated from seafood were branched into four major clusters at 18.2%, 20.7% 34% and 3.4% similarity levels. This suggests that there is potential for a single strain to be distributed widely within a population and there also potential for multiple contaminating strains of different clonal lineages to be present within the same population. Optimum temperature (37ºC) was the highest and stable formation of biofilm. The total percentage of biofilm formation at 37ºC was 33.33% for each of weak, moderate and strong biofilm producers. Room temperature produces 61.1% of weak biofilm producer, while 13. 89% for moderate biofilm producers and produce 25% of strong biofilm. While a total of 91.67% weak biofilm producers at 4ºC and 8:33% for room temperature and no growth of strong biofilm. Upon analysis, strong biofilm was tracked from the largest group at 37°C and room temperature which produce 27.27% of strong biofilm producer respectively. Interestingly, they are derived from cockles.
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and antibiogram of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in processed bivalve molluscs in Kuala Terengganu. A total of 80 seafood samples, namely mussels (n=20), carpet clams (n=20), cockles (n=20) and scallops (n=20), were subjected to PCR and conventional plating method for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus. V. parahaemolyticus was found in green mussels (55%), carpet clam (80%), cockles (40%) and scallops (55%). Fifty-five V. parahaemolyticus isolates were subjected to 9 types antibiotic sensitivity test using discs diffusion method. All isolates were susceptible to Tetracycline and Gentamycin. Isolates showed high resistance towards Vancomycin (52.73%), Penicillin (45.45%) and Amplicillin (32.73%). Resistance towards Amikacin, Ciprofloxacin and Norfloxacin were found to be 1.82%. It can be concluded that local bivalve molluscs were contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus and isolates showed resistance towards certain antibiotics. Therefore, consumption of raw or semi-cooked bivalve molluscs is not advisable.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is recognized as a frequent causal agent of human gastroenteritis due to the consumption of raw, undercooked or mishandled seafood in many Asian countries. The number of V. parahaemolyticus cases reported is on the rise, and this becomes a concern to the Asian countries as seafood is favoured by Asians. This study aimed to detect and quantify V. parahaemolyticus in raw oysters and to determine the risk associated with the consumption of raw oysters. A total of 30 oyster samples were collected and analysed in this study. MPN-PCR and MPN-Plating methods were employed and carried out concurrently to determine the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus in raw oysters. The results showed that the prevalence of total V. parahaemolyticus in oysters was 50.00% (15/30) where the MPN/g range was < 3 – > 11000 MPN/g for MPN-PCR method, and 40.00% (12/30) where the MPN/g range was < 3 – 4300 MPN/g for MPN-Plating method. MPN-PCR method was able to estimate the level of virulence (tdh+ and trh+) V. parahaemolyticus in the raw oysters where 10.00% (3/30) of samples were identified to be in a range of 3 – 30 MPN/g. A microbial risk assessment was conducted based on the enumeration data obtained from MPN-PCR method using @risk. The probability of illness annually was 1.76 X 10-6 with a prediction of 31 cases to occur with respect to the exposed Malaysian population, while the rate per 100,000 people was estimated to be at 0.104. In addition, the antibiogram of V. parahaemolyticus was determined using Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion Test and the results indicated that the isolates were highly resistant towards Bacitracin (100.00%), Vancomycin (100.00%) and were least resistant to Chloramphenicol (8.70%). The MAR index of the isolates ranged from 0.17 to 0.50. In accordance with the results from this study, the consumption of raw oysters is a risk factor for V. parahaemolyticus infection and proactive actions should be taken to reduce the risk of the pathogen in order to improve public health.
Phytochemicals belonging to the group’s phenols, terpenes, betalains, organosulfides, indoles and protein inhibitors are important components in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts that have health promoting benefits and a variety of applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. Initially only a few of these important phytochemicals are produced commercially by chemical synthesis. However, recent developments in the field of biotechnology have provided metabolic engineering strategies that use microorganisms as cell factories for high production of these products. This review will discuss the general biosynthetic pathways, metabolic engineering and optimization strategies of functional phytochemicals that have received a lot of attention from investigators.
Foodborne diseases are mainly caused by bacterial contamination which can lead to severe diarrhea. This study aimed to detect the presence of Shiga toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157, Escherichia coli non-O157 and virulence gene in raw vegetables. The samples were purchased from wet market and hypermarket in Selangor. The detections were carried out by using the combination methods of Most Probable Number-Polymerase Chain Reaction (MPNPCR). A total of 37(18.5%) samples were found to be contaminated by STEC. Out of these 37 isolates, four (10.8%) of the isolates were E. coli O157 while 33(89.2%) were E. coli nonO157. However, there was no E. coli O157:H7 detected in all the samples. The occurrence of Shiga toxin-Producing E. coli in edible raw vegetables samples suggests the importance of this pathogen in vegetables. Therefore, more studies are required to remove this pathogen from vegetables.