OCCURRENCE AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF ENTEROBACTERIACEAE ISOLATED FROM SELECTED FRESH GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES

Abstract

The study aims at accounting the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria within the family Enterobacteriaceae in green leafy vegetable samples. Eighty samples were collected from eight different locations of Prayagraj region. Isolation was done using selective plating according to ISO 21528-1:2004. Differentiation and characterization of isolates was based on their growth characteristics on specific culture media, their biochemical confirmatory tests and gram staining reactions. Total soluble proteins of the isolates were estimated by Biuret method. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was tested against antibiotics including ampicillin, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin at different concentrations. A total of 54 isolates were obtained and identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella planticola, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella typhi. All the isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin at concentrations of 10, 50, 80 and 100 μg/ ml. About 78.5% isolates at 80 μg/ml of Ampicillin and 85.8% isolates at the concentration of 50 μg/ml of Streptomycin showed their zone of inhibition within the range of 10-15 mm diameter, while, 91.6% isolates showed their zone of inhibition within the range of 1520 mm diameter at 10 μg/ml concentration of ciprofloxacin. The fresh green leafy vegetables sold in the local markets of Prayagraj showed presence of pathogenic bacteria belonging particularly to the family Enterobacteriaceae; indicating poor hygienic conditions as well as improper storage environment.