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Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China

This study quantified the association of rodent fruit damage and the microbiological quality of irrigation water on the risk of microbiological contamination of strawberries collected from 18 U-pick farms across five different districts in the Guangzhou metropolitan region of southern China. Fifty-f...

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Autores principales: Wei, Xiaohong, Hou, Shuiping, Pan, Xinhong, Xu, Conghui, Li, Juntao, Yu, Hong, Chase, Jennifer, Atwill, Edward R., Li, Xunde, Chen, Kuncai, Chen, Shouyi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950289/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817316
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244910
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author Wei, Xiaohong
Hou, Shuiping
Pan, Xinhong
Xu, Conghui
Li, Juntao
Yu, Hong
Chase, Jennifer
Atwill, Edward R.
Li, Xunde
Chen, Kuncai
Chen, Shouyi
author_facet Wei, Xiaohong
Hou, Shuiping
Pan, Xinhong
Xu, Conghui
Li, Juntao
Yu, Hong
Chase, Jennifer
Atwill, Edward R.
Li, Xunde
Chen, Kuncai
Chen, Shouyi
author_sort Wei, Xiaohong
collection PubMed
description This study quantified the association of rodent fruit damage and the microbiological quality of irrigation water on the risk of microbiological contamination of strawberries collected from 18 U-pick farms across five different districts in the Guangzhou metropolitan region of southern China. Fifty-four composite strawberries samples, with or without evidence of rodent or avian foraging damage (i.e., bitten), along with 16 irrigation water samples, were collected during the spring of 2014 and winter of 2015 from our cohort of 18 farms. Composite strawberry samples and irrigation water were analyzed for total coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella, E. coli O157, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. Total coliforms and E. coli were detected in 100% and ~90% of irrigation water samples, respectively. In contrast, Cryptosporidium was detected in only two water samples, while Salmonella, E. coli O157, and Giardia were not detected in any water samples. Strawberries with signs of being bitten by wildlife had significantly higher concentrations of total coliforms and E. coli, compared to strawberries with no physical evidence of rodent damage (p < 0.001). Similarly, Cryptosporidium was detected in 7/18 (39%) of bitten, 4/18 (22%) of edge, and 5/18 (28%) of central strawberry samples, respectively. Concentration of E. coli on strawberries (p < 0.001), air temperature (p = 0.025), and presence of Cryptosporidium in irrigation water (p < 0.001) were all associated with the risk of Cryptosporidium contamination on strawberries. Salmonella and Giardia were detected in <4% strawberry samples and E. coli O157 was not detected in any samples. These results indicate the potential food safety and public health risks of consuming unwashed strawberries from U-pick farms, and the need for improved rodent biosecurity of U-pick strawberry fields and enhanced microbiological quality of irrigation water used at these facilities.
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spelling pubmed-69502892020-01-16 Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China Wei, Xiaohong Hou, Shuiping Pan, Xinhong Xu, Conghui Li, Juntao Yu, Hong Chase, Jennifer Atwill, Edward R. Li, Xunde Chen, Kuncai Chen, Shouyi Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This study quantified the association of rodent fruit damage and the microbiological quality of irrigation water on the risk of microbiological contamination of strawberries collected from 18 U-pick farms across five different districts in the Guangzhou metropolitan region of southern China. Fifty-four composite strawberries samples, with or without evidence of rodent or avian foraging damage (i.e., bitten), along with 16 irrigation water samples, were collected during the spring of 2014 and winter of 2015 from our cohort of 18 farms. Composite strawberry samples and irrigation water were analyzed for total coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella, E. coli O157, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. Total coliforms and E. coli were detected in 100% and ~90% of irrigation water samples, respectively. In contrast, Cryptosporidium was detected in only two water samples, while Salmonella, E. coli O157, and Giardia were not detected in any water samples. Strawberries with signs of being bitten by wildlife had significantly higher concentrations of total coliforms and E. coli, compared to strawberries with no physical evidence of rodent damage (p < 0.001). Similarly, Cryptosporidium was detected in 7/18 (39%) of bitten, 4/18 (22%) of edge, and 5/18 (28%) of central strawberry samples, respectively. Concentration of E. coli on strawberries (p < 0.001), air temperature (p = 0.025), and presence of Cryptosporidium in irrigation water (p < 0.001) were all associated with the risk of Cryptosporidium contamination on strawberries. Salmonella and Giardia were detected in <4% strawberry samples and E. coli O157 was not detected in any samples. These results indicate the potential food safety and public health risks of consuming unwashed strawberries from U-pick farms, and the need for improved rodent biosecurity of U-pick strawberry fields and enhanced microbiological quality of irrigation water used at these facilities. MDPI 2019-12-05 2019-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6950289/ /pubmed/31817316 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244910 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Wei, Xiaohong
Hou, Shuiping
Pan, Xinhong
Xu, Conghui
Li, Juntao
Yu, Hong
Chase, Jennifer
Atwill, Edward R.
Li, Xunde
Chen, Kuncai
Chen, Shouyi
Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title_full Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title_fullStr Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title_full_unstemmed Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title_short Microbiological Contamination of Strawberries from U-Pick Farms in Guangzhou, China
title_sort microbiological contamination of strawberries from u-pick farms in guangzhou, china
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950289/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817316
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244910
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