Evaluation of the microbial quality of ready to eat packaged vegetable salads

Food products of plant and animal origin are offered for human consumption as fresh or processed. Consumers prefer vegetable products which have high nutritional value, healthy and reliable foods more. Salads among vegetable products are food products that are industrially prepared in some special facilities and offered for consumption in packaged form. The fact that packaged vegetable salads are minimally processed and consumed raw poses a great microbiological risk. Therefore, in the master's thesis study, it was aimed to determine the microbiological quality of packaged vegetable salads offered for sale in different supermarkets and to reveal the risks that such a raw food type may carry in terms of human health. In the thesis study, it was tried to determine the microbial quality of packaged vegetable salads offered for sale in different supermarkets in Isparta. The presence and levels of total mesophyll aerobic bacteria, total yeast and mould, psychrophilic bacteria, coliform, faecal coliform, E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 microorganisms were searched in 16 packaged vegetable salad samples purchased from different supermarkets. The pH value range of the samples analysed was found to be 4.86-5.92. In the results of microbiological analyses, total mesophilic aerobic bacteria values were 1,42-4,36 log cfu/g, total yeast and mould values were 0-3,16 log cfu/g and psychrophilic bacteria values were 1,26-3,56 log cfu/g. As a result of coliform bacteria analysis, the coliform bacteria was not observed in the packaged vegetable salad samples since gas formation and colour transformation were not observed. Fecal coliform, E. coli and E. coli O157: H7 were not detected as a result of the analyses.