Abstract:
In most African countries, street vending of fruits is prevalent and the likelihood of predisposing consumers to microbial
contamination is very high. ,is study aimed to determine various bacteria and risk factors that are associated with fruits sold by
street vendors in Accra. Sliced watermelons and pawpaws were randomly purchased from selected suburbs in Greater Accra
Region of Ghana. One gram (1 g) of each watermelon and pawpaw was homogenized in 9 ml of sterile peptone water, and 0.1 ml
from each serial dilutions of each fruit was spread on plate count agar, blood agar, and MacConkey agar plates for total aerobic
counts and coliform counts. Agar plates were incubated at 33–37°
C for 18–24 h. Bacterial identification was done by standard
bacteriological methods. Additionally, questionnaires were administered to the vendors to gather data on food hygiene and
knowledge on foodborne illness. ,e study revealed that although some of the fruit vendors were educated on food hygiene, most
sold fruits were contaminated with mean total aerobic plate counts of 2.6 ×105
–8.1 × 105CFU g−1 and 3.7 ×104
–7.1 × 104CFU g−1
for watermelon and pawpaw. ,The mean coliform counts for pawpaw and watermelon ranged between 1.2 ×103
–8.1 × 103CFU g−1
and 1.6 ×104
–3.1 × 104CFU g−1
, respectively. Overall, mean aerobic counts and mean coliform counts were not significantly
different among vendors in selected locations (p > 0.05). However, predominant bacteria isolated included Enterobacter species
(33.3%), Citrobacter sp. (20.0%), and Klebsiella sp. (15.9%). ,e study revealed that watermelon and pawpaw sold on the streets in
Accra could be possible source of foodborne illness. Therefore, street food vendors must be educated on food hygiene protocols
and measures to improve microbial quality of street vended fruits.
