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Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria

Monitoring parasitic contamination in raw vegetables used in salads is an important measure in controlling the occurrence of gastroenterological diseases, which may be life-threatening. This study aimed to inspect the parasitological contamination of some raw vegetables used in salads. Eight commonl...

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Autores principales: Al Nahhas, Samar, Aboualchamat, Ghalia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7672268/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33241130
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fawpar.2020.e00090
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author Al Nahhas, Samar
Aboualchamat, Ghalia
author_facet Al Nahhas, Samar
Aboualchamat, Ghalia
author_sort Al Nahhas, Samar
collection PubMed
description Monitoring parasitic contamination in raw vegetables used in salads is an important measure in controlling the occurrence of gastroenterological diseases, which may be life-threatening. This study aimed to inspect the parasitological contamination of some raw vegetables used in salads. Eight commonly consumed vegetable types were purchased from street vendors in the city markets. Vegetables were washed and the sediments were obtained for microscopic examination. Genomic DNA was isolated from contaminated samples. Our result showed that 34.4% of the studied samples were contaminated with one or more species of parasites. Lettuce was the most commonly contaminated vegetable type (29.5%), while tarragon leaves showed the lowest level of contamination (2.3%). The risk of contamination was significantly higher in lettuce samples in comparison with the other samples studied. Giardia duodenalis was the most prevalent parasite detected (38.6%) and was abundantly found in lettuce isolates (23.5%). Molecular typing revealed that all Giardia samples found in the contaminated specimens belonged to Assemblage B. Blastocystis spp. were the second most prevalent parasite in samples (29.5%), they were frequently detected in lettuce leaves (30.8%). Other parasites were found in low frequencies. The high level of parasitic contamination found in our study indicates an urgent need to identify the sources of contamination and to monitor irrigation water and ensure its cleanliness.
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spelling pubmed-76722682020-11-24 Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria Al Nahhas, Samar Aboualchamat, Ghalia Food Waterborne Parasitol Research Article Monitoring parasitic contamination in raw vegetables used in salads is an important measure in controlling the occurrence of gastroenterological diseases, which may be life-threatening. This study aimed to inspect the parasitological contamination of some raw vegetables used in salads. Eight commonly consumed vegetable types were purchased from street vendors in the city markets. Vegetables were washed and the sediments were obtained for microscopic examination. Genomic DNA was isolated from contaminated samples. Our result showed that 34.4% of the studied samples were contaminated with one or more species of parasites. Lettuce was the most commonly contaminated vegetable type (29.5%), while tarragon leaves showed the lowest level of contamination (2.3%). The risk of contamination was significantly higher in lettuce samples in comparison with the other samples studied. Giardia duodenalis was the most prevalent parasite detected (38.6%) and was abundantly found in lettuce isolates (23.5%). Molecular typing revealed that all Giardia samples found in the contaminated specimens belonged to Assemblage B. Blastocystis spp. were the second most prevalent parasite in samples (29.5%), they were frequently detected in lettuce leaves (30.8%). Other parasites were found in low frequencies. The high level of parasitic contamination found in our study indicates an urgent need to identify the sources of contamination and to monitor irrigation water and ensure its cleanliness. Elsevier 2020-11-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7672268/ /pubmed/33241130 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fawpar.2020.e00090 Text en © 2020 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research Article
Al Nahhas, Samar
Aboualchamat, Ghalia
Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title_full Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title_fullStr Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title_short Investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in Damascus, Syria
title_sort investigation of parasitic contamination of salad vegetables sold by street vendors in city markets in damascus, syria
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7672268/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33241130
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fawpar.2020.e00090
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