Microbiological Quality and Safety of Some Dried Spices Obtained from Markets, Spice Shops and Homes

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine both the microbiological quality and safety of the spices as well as whether or not there are any pathogenic bacteria in fifty-four samples of six dried spices supplied from three markets, three spice shops, and three homes. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB), aerobic spore former bacteria (ASFB), total yeast-mold (TYM), coliform group bacteria (CGB), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Salmonella spp. were found in red pepper flakes, red pepper powder, ground black pepper, dried mint, dried thyme, and ground cumin. The highest count of TMAB (11.20 ± 0.01 log cfu/g) was found in ground black pepper obtained from the second home (P < 0.05). 62.96% of the samples contained CGB (P < 0.05). 46.29% of the samples had unacceptable limits (2 log cfu/g) of E. coli, whereas 87.03% of the samples had unacceptable limits (2 log cfu/g) of S. aureus according to international microbiological standards. Salmonella spp. was isolated from 38.90% of the samples. The most common microorganisms found at the unacceptable limit included S. aureus (47/54), E. coli (25/54), and Salmonella spp. (21/54). The highest number of samples containing any microorganism at the unacceptable level was obtained from the home (18/18) and this rate was 14/18 in the samples obtained from both markets and spice shops. Dried thyme had the best microbiological quality. These results demonstrated that the pathogenic bacteria loads of the analyzed dried spices were high, and thus unsafe in terms of their microbiological quality.