Prevalance of helminth eggs for salads

SUMMARYPrevalance of helminth eggs on vegetables for saladsZeki OZANIn this study, the presence and prevalence of helminth eggs on raw vegetables, includinggreen onions, lettuce, watercress, parsley and garden cress purchassed from open markets,wholesalers and greengrocers in Ankara, Turkey were determined. Helminth eggs weredetected in 14(%14) of unwashed 100 vegetable samples by light microscopy whereas noeggs were detected in washed samples.Helminth eggs detected were Toxocara spp. in 2 (2%), Taenia spp. in 8 (8%), andAscaris lumbricoides in 4 (4%) in unwashed samples. The highest level (20%) of helminteggs was detected in lettuce samples and the lowest level (10%) of eggs was detected in bothgreen onion and garden cress samples. Taenia spp. eggs were recovered to be highest number(n=101), followed by Toxocara spp. (n=18) and A. Lumbricoides was found to be the lowestnumber (n=15). The highest helminth egg number (n=36) was counted in parsley samples andthe lowest egg number (n=15) was in garden cress samples.These results showed that unwashed raw vegetables are an important contamination pathwayfor helminth infections and pose a great health risk for consumers. Therefore, vegetablesparticularly leafly ones consumed raw must be washed well and effectively.