Bacteriological Assessment of Ready-to-Eat Pawpaw (Carica papaya) Sold in Selected Locations in Benin City

This study was carried out to assess the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat papaya fruit from selected locations in Benin City. Standard bacteriological techniques using selective/differential media were employed for the isolation, purification and putative identification of selected bacterial isolates present in vended papaya fruits. The susceptibility and resistance of these bacterial isolates to common antibiotics was accessed. The public health implication of the identified isolates were also evaluated using their multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index. Pawpaw samples obtained from three locations had colonies which were too numerous to count while samples obtained from eight other locations had counts which ranged from 2.33 x 104 - 1.89 x 105 cfu/g. Total staphylococcal count ranged from 8.2 x 102 - 8.21 x 104 cfu/g. Coliform count ranged between 4.8 x 103 - 1.68 x 104 cfu/g. Salmonella count obtained from the pawpaw samples were in the range of 2.03 x 102 - 1.86 x 104 cfu/g while Pseudomonas counts were within the range of 4.2 x 103 - 6.7x103 cfu/g. The putative bacterial isolates from vended pawpaw fruit were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella oxytoca and Enterococcus faecalis. The isolates were found to be resistant to some of the antibiotics such as Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Eythromycin and Cefixime. They however, were susceptible to Gentamicin and Ciprofloxacin and were least susceptible to Amoxicillin, Ampicillin and Cefixime. Results obtained are of public health importance as the isolates were found to have an MAR index greater than 0.2.