THE PREVALENCE AND ANTIBACTERIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATED FROM CABBAGE SOLD UNDER MARKET CONDITION IN KEFFI AND NASARAWA TOWN

THE PREVALENCE AND ANTIBACTERIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATED FROM CABBAGE SOLD UNDER MARKET CONDITION IN KEFFI AND  NASARAWA TOWN

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Cabbage or headed cabbage (comprising several groups of cultivars of Brassica oleracea) is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. Closely related to other cole crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts, it descends from B. oleracea var. oleracea, a wild field cabbage. Cabbage is a leafy vegetable of Brassica family, and is round or oval in shape. It consists of soft, light green or whitish inner leaves covered with harder and dark green outer leaves. It is widely used throughout the words, and can prepared in a number of ways, but most commonly, it is included as either as cooked or raw part of many salads.

Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant’s life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year, and must be kept separated from other Cole crops to prevent cross-pollination. Cabbage is prone to several nutrient deficiencies, as well as to multiple pests, and bacterial and fungal diseases (Brassica, 2012).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that world production of cabbage and other brassicas for 2011 was almost 69 million metric tons (68 million long tons; 75 million short tons). Almost half of these crops were grown in China, where Chinese cabbage is the most popular Brassica vegetable. Cabbages are prepared in many different ways for eating. They can be pickled, fermented for dishes such as sauerkraut, steamed, stewed, sautéed, braised, or eaten raw. Cabbage is a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C and dietary fiber. Contaminated cabbage has been linked to cases of food-borne illness in humans (Ingram et al, 2000).

Cabbage seedlings have a thin taproot and cordate (heart-shaped) cotyledons. The first leaves produced are ovate (egg-shaped) with a lobed petiole. Plants are 40–60 cm (16–24 in) tall in their first year at the mature vegetative stage, and 1.5–2.0 m (4.9–6.6 ft) tall when flowering in the second year. Heads average between 1 and 8 pounds (0.5 and 4 kg), with fast-growing, earlier-maturing varieties producing smaller heads.  Most cabbages have thick, alternating leaves, with margins that range from wavy or lobed to highly dissected; some varieties have a waxy bloom on the leaves. Plants have root systems that are fibrous and shallow. About 90 percent of the root mass is in the upper 20–30 cm (8–12 in) of soil; some lateral roots can penetrate up to 2 m (6.6 ft) deep (Chantrell et al., 2002).

 Cabbage has been selectively bred for head weight and morphological characteristics, frost hardiness, fast growth and storage ability. The appearance of the cabbage head has been given importance in selective breeding, with varieties being chosen for shape, color, firmness and other physical characteristics. Breeding objectives are now focused on increasing resistance to various insects and diseases and improving the nutritional content of cabbage. Scientific research into the genetic modification of B. oleracea crops, including cabbage, has included European Union and United States explorations of greater insect and herbicide resistance. Genetically modified B. oleracea crops are not currently used in commercial agriculture (Janick et al., 2011)

Cabbage has been linked to outbreaks of some food-borne illnesses, including Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium botulinum. The latter toxin has been traced to pre-made, packaged coleslaw mixes, while the spores were found on whole cabbages that were otherwise acceptable in appearance. Shigella species are able to survive in shredded cabbage. Two outbreaks of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the United States have been linked to cabbage consumption. Biological risk assessments have concluded that there is the potential for further outbreaks linked to uncooked cabbage, due to contamination at many stages of the growing, harvesting and packaging processes. Contaminants from water, humans, animals and soil have the potential to be transferred to cabbage, and from there to the end consumer.

Cabbage heads generally range from 0.5 to 4 kilograms (1 to 9 lb), and can be green, purple and white. Smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors seen more rarely. It is a multi-layered vegetable. Under conditions of long sunlit days such as are found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow much larger.

One of their most important celebrated benefits to health is their  powerful antioxidant quality. This means that cabbage and other similar vegetables scavenge radicals from around the body, which can be very detrimental to overall health and are major contributors to things like cancer and hearth disease.

Cabbage also has a number of anticancer compounds, like lupoeol, sinigrin, and sulforaphane, which are known to stimulate enzyme activity and inhibit the growth of tumors, which can lead to cancer. One study, performed primarily on Chinese women, showed a significant reduction in breast cancer when cruciferous vegetable like cabbage were regularly added to their diet.

Cabbage is known to accumulate a build-up of cadmium-binding complexes in its leaves, and one of the main component of that is glutamine. Glutamine is a strong anti-inflammatory agent, so consuming cabbage can reduce the effects of many type of inflammation, irritation, allergies, joint pain, fever, and various skin disorders.

Food must be visibly clean and free from noxious materials. It should be also nourishing and attractive as the aim of food hygiene should be the product and service of food which is both safe and suitable for consumption, the safety of cabbage with respect to food born disease is of great concern around the world (Yilma et al., 2007).

A vegetable is the tender plant part which is not sweet and may be flavored or spiced with condiments before consumption. These plant or plant parts may be eaten raw as salad or added to some cooked foods like rice vegetables are known to be reach in vitamins, iron, calcium, proteins, fats and minerals. Leafy green and yellow vegetables are valued highly for their vitamin A and iron contents, vegetables are helpful in neutralizing the acid substances provided in the course of digestion of meat, cheese and other foods as they are valued as roughage which promote digestion and helps to prevent constipation (Oyenugu and Fetuga, 1985).

While growing, cabbage may be exposed to many source of contamination like contaminated sewage used in watering the gardens from where these vegetables are grown. Salmonella species and other pathogens are derived from raw and treated sewage.

Contamination of cabbage can been reduced depending on the use of good agricultural practices in harvesting picking, transporting and processing particular washing. The importance of washing vegetable properly especially those eaten raw is to effectively remove from the vegetables, any pathogenic microorganism which may cause infections upon ingestion. Chlorine containing solutions or other antibacterial compounds has been employed to reduce the number of contaminating microorganisms in such vegetable (Lund, 1983).

Some food born infections outbreaks have been reported to be due to field contamination before these greens are even harvested. This exercise is essentially to establish the bacteriological load of some fresh leafy vegetables that are usually not cooked before consumption.

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive coccus that occurs in grape –like clusters. It is a enbacterium that is found on the surface of the human skin and mucous membranes (Prescott et al., 2005). They form part of the normal microbial flora of the skin, upper respiratory tract and intestinal tract (Cheesborough. 2005).

Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacterial species commonly found on the skin and hair as well as in the noses and throats of people and animals. These bacterial are present in up to 25% of healthy people and even more common among those with skin, eye, nose and throat infection. Staphylococcus aureus can cause food poisoning when a food handler contaminates food and then the food is properly refrigerated. Other sources of food contamination include the equipment and surface on which food is prepared. These bacteria multiply quickly at room temperature to produce a toxin that cause illness. Staphylococcus is killed by cooking and pasteurization.

Drug resistance by the organism is also a major concern (Weinstain, 1998). Both methicillin (oxacillin or cefoxitin) and glycopeptide (vancomycin and teicoplanin) resistance may occur in Staphylococcus aureus. The emergence of antibiotic resistance microorganisms (e.g  Staphylococcus aureus ) is increasing extremely rapidly around the globe, creating a serious threat to the spread and treatment of infectious disease (Oli et al, 2013). Antibiotic resistance is a world wide. Health leaders have described antibiotics resistant microorganisms as “nightmare bacteria” that “pose a catastrophic threat” to people in every country in the world (Bocksteal and Aerschot, 2009).

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The occurrence of bacterial pathogens in cabbage is recognized as a sources of potential health hazard to man. This is due to their production of bacteriotoxic compounds which are capable of inducing several critical symptoms in man following ingestion. The contamination of fruits and vegetable (cabbage) by bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) could also be as a result of poor handling practice in food supply chain storage condition, distribution, marketing practice and transportation.

1.2 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY

Cabbage is an important part of healthy diet and provide a source of many nutrients including potassium, fiber, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A,E and C. the nutrient in vegetables are vital for health and maintance of once body. So also fresh vegetables could carry abundant bacteria on their surface which are pathogenic.

Cabbage are healthy for man but they are also the largest  source of food born contamination. About 2.2 million people get sick annually from eating contaminated leafy vegetables that represent about 23% of the 9.6 million cases of food born illness  each year. Symptoms in an infected individual include diarrhea, vomiting and Nausea. Its presence in food id by not properly washing of the cabbage before consumption.

1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this research work was to determine the prevalence and antibacterial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from cabbage sold under market condition in Keffi and  Nasarawa town.

1.4 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE

The specific objectives of this study are to:

1. Isolate and identify Staphylococcus aureus from cabbage sold under market condition in both keffi and Nasarawa towns.
2. To determine the antibiotic susceptibility profile of the Staphylococcus aureus isolate

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