Studies on microbial contaminants associated with arecanut leaf sheath plates

Abstract

Arecanut is being grown in an area of 2.71 lakh ha in Karnataka and contributes 65 per cent area to the country. Arecanut sheds the leaf sheath and they are widely used for consumption and packing of food in various occasions. The survey was conducted to know the microbial contaminants associated with leaf sheath plates and during the survey visited to 30 plates manufacturing units situated in Shivamogga and Davanagere districts in Karnataka. Randomly collected areca plates were used for laboratory study to know the contaminants. From these, fungal and bacterial contaminants were isolated and identified by cultural, morphological and biochemical studies. The result revealed that Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma harzianum and prevalence of Pseudomonas sp. (32x10-6 cfu/ml), Bacillus sp. (19x10-6 cfu/ml), Micrococcus sp. (12x10-6 cfu/ml) and E. coli (4x10-6 cfu/ml) were observed in contaminated plates under laboratory studies. The study concluded that the prevalence of fungi and bacteria may cause deleterious effects on human health is a chance factor. In future, it is required to concentrate on the sterilizing process which may prevent the health hazardous on human beings.