Original Research Article
Year: 2022 | Month: October | Volume: 12 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 1-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20221001
Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Effect of Raphanus Sativus, Beta Vulgaris and Allium Cepa on Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Street-Side Cut Fruits
Deepa V.H.1, Harshitha S.2, Sowmya N.S.2, Sushma B.2, Hiba Nasrin Ahmed2, Payel Sarkar3
1School of Life Sciences, AIMS Institutes, Bangalore, India- 560058
2Department of Microbiology, Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bangalore City University, Bangalore, India- 560054
3Department of Microbiology, The Oxford College of Science, Bangalore University, Bangalore, India- 560102
Corresponding Author: Dr. Payel Sarkar
ABSTRACT
Street-side cut fruits are consumed more now-a-days due to the busy lives of people. Due to this people tend to have more ready-made, apparently healthy food. Street-side vended fruits and fruit salads consist of peeled, sliced, shredded, trimmed and washed fruits that are ready to eat without any need to cut, peel or rinse as it has been already done by the vendors. Street vendors are unlicensed or local hawkers who usually have limited knowledge about food hygiene. The present research work was undertaken to isolate potentially pathogenic food borne microorganisms from the street-side cut fruits. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sp, Klebsiella sp, Vibrio sp and Salmonella were isolated from different fruit samples analyzed in this study. These organisms are known to cause food spoilage or diseases in consumers. Antibiotics can be given in case of infection. However, if these bacteria are resistant to those antibiotics, then the treatment would not be successful, which we confirmed to be true from our antibiotic sensitivity tests. Since most of the isolated organisms showed resistance to antibiotics, vegetable extracts were used as an alternative to antibiotic therapy. The next objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Raphanus sativus (Radish), Allium cepa (Onion), Beta vulgaris (Beetroot) on the food pathogens isolated from street vended cut fruits. Extracts of these three vegetables were used to check the antibacterial effects on the isolated pathogenic bacteria from street-side cut fruits. It was found that onion and beetroot extracts were more effective on all organisms than radish extract. Hence, instead of depending on antibiotic treatment vegetable extracts can be used for treatment of cut-fruits before consuming the fruits, thus reducing the chances of infection or food poisoning. Also, the fact that these vegetable extracts are safely consumable and their ease of use makes them promising candidates for counteracting common pathogenic microorganisms.
Key words: Street foods, Foodborne pathogens, Antibiotic resistance, Radish extract, Onion extract, Beetroot extract