Investigation of microbial flora of dried figs unpacked spices sold

Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the presence of pathogens due to cross-contamination in dried fig samples sold in open air from Aydın province. Material and Method: The research was carried out at Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Food Chemistry Laboratory and Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Recombinant DNA and Recombinant Protein Application and Research Center. Dried figs to be used ort he experiment were collected as 10 samples from 4 different markets in Aydın between 1 December 2021 and 06.04.2022. In the study, the steps of isolation of contaminant DNA from fig samples, control of purified DNA and amplification of ribosomal RNA gene with PCR were followed. Results: As a result of metagenomic analysis, a total of 61 branches, 134 classes, 315 orders, 500 families and 1508 genera were determined in all samples. . When the distributions of the samples after Hierarchical Clustering were evaluated, it was seen that a reasonable number of individuals were sampled. When the toxonomic distributions are evaluated, the highest Proteobacteria (64.6±17.6%) in the distributions of the branches, Gammaproteobacteria in the distributions of the classes (46.4 ± 17.5%), Burkholderiales (20.3 ± 19.2%) in the distributions of the orders, Burkholderiaceae in the distributions of the families (9.1 ± 8.6%) and Burkholderia- Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia (4.6% ± 4.3%). Conclusion: Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, Serratia, Escherichia-Shigella, Pseudomonas, uncultured, Streptococcus, Alcaligenes, Candidatus Symbiobacter, Franconibacter, Enterobacter, Lachnospiraceae UCG-Shigella- , Aeromonas, Massilia, Corynebacterium, Enterobacillus, Bacillus and Klebsiella were determined 20 genera.