Archives

Page No. : 7-11

ABSTRACT

A total of 515 vegetable samples were collected from different vendors of wholesale and retail markets of Bareilly for assessment of their contamination with various parasites. The study revealed that 6.79% of vegetables were positive for parasitic objects (ova, cyst, larvae, etc.). Nematode larvae (3.30%) were the most predominant, followed by ova of Ascaris spp. (1.35%), Taenia spp. (0.97%), Toxocara spp. (0.77%), oocyst of Coccidia (0.77%), ova of Strongyle spp. (0.58%), ova of Trichuris spp. (0.38%), ova of Hymenolepis spp. (0.38%), cysts of Giardia spp. (0.38%) and Entamoeba spp. (0.11%). Of all the vegetables examined, coriander was the most commonly contaminated (15.3%), followed by lettuce (15%), green onion leaves (13.06%), mint (12.5%), cabbage (10.52%), radish (9.3%), carrot (7.8%), turnip (5.26%) and water chestnut (1.93%). Consumption of raw vegetables with the high percentage of viable-stage parasites may pose a potential risk of their transmission to consumers.

Keywords: Bareilly, India, parasites, public health, vegetables