BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SPOILED TOMATOES

ABSTRACT Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a common fruit with a wide nutritional and economic value but is very perishable especially in unfavourable conditions of storage and especially favourable to microbial destruction. The current study has investigated the bacteriological contamination and spoilage pattern of stored tomatoes that were obtained in Owode and Ojaale market. Microbiological tests were also conducted including a serial dilution test, a pour plate study, a biochemical characterization test on the visibly spoiled tomato samples. The overall enumeration of viable bacterial counts of the samples was 8.5 × 10 -05 to 1.9 effective CFU/mL, which is an indicator of massive contamination. Three isolates were identified as; *Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, based on the morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. It is known that these microorganisms can decrease the time-span of tissue degradation and can create certain health risks in cases when the contaminated tomatoes were eaten without proper washing or cooking. These results show that improper handling, lack of proper sanitation, and unfavourable storage conditions play a major role in promoting the growth of the bacteria and spoilage of tomatoes. Therefore, the paper highlights the importance of sound hygienic standards, the implementation of better storage methods and effective food safety standards to reduce the number of losses after harvesting and the health of consumers. Keywords: Tomatoes; Bacteriological analysis; Spoilage; Storage; E. coli; Listeria monocytogenes; Staphylococcus aureus.