Microbial prevalence and quality of organic farm produce from various production sites

Abstract

To analyze the presence of microbes in organic farm produce, green chillies, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, pears, and rice were collected at 47 production sites with organic and conventional produce. Total average bacterial counts of 4.07 log CFU/g in organic green chillies, 3.71 log CFU/g in conventional green chillies, and 6.76- 6.90 log CFU/g in the both lettuce were detected. Mean bacterial counts of 4.48 log CFU/g and 2.84 log CFU/g were detected in organic and conventional pear produce, respectively. Differences in bacterial counts in tomatoes, apples, and rice in organic and conventional produce were less pronounced. Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected in any produce sample. However, Bacillus cereus was detected with average counts of 1.04 log CFU/g in 11/47 (23%) conventional produce samples and 1.97 log CFU/g in 6/47 (13%) organic produce samples. Therefore, organic and conventional produce showed similar microbial prevalence patterns, and comparable safety in terms of pathogen contamination. copyright © 2014 The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology.