Bacterial Contamination of Banana (Musa acuminata) Available in Janakpurdham Market

Abstract

Introduction: Fruits are nutritious and flavoured plant-based foods that come from the mature ovary of a plant. Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world. They are highly nutritious, convenient to eat, and available year-round. They are usually sweet or sour depending on the plant. Bananas are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, fibre, and antioxidants. They are perishable food. The microorganisms get easy access to enter it. They get contaminated with different types of bacteria during harvesting, transportation, and storage. Eating of bacterial-contaminated Banana can cause health problems to people.

Materials and Methods: A total of one hundred twenty fresh banana samples were collected from different retailers of Janakpurd- ham metropolitan city, aseptically. Bacterial enumeration and identification were done in the microbiology lab in Model Multiple College, Janakpur, using different culture media and biochemical tests.

Results: Major isolated bacteria were Pseudomonas species, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Ninety percent 108) of the samples were found contaminated with bacteria. Staphylococcus species were isolated from 90 (75%) samples, followed by Escherichia coli in 30 (40%) samples and Pseudomonas in 14 (11.66%).

Conclusions: Most of the collected banana samples were found to be bacterial contaminated, and the major bacteria were Staphylo- coccus epidermidis and Escherichia coli.