Occurrence of Escherichia coli in Brassica rapa L. chinensis irrigated with low quality water in urban areas of Morogoro, Tanzania
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Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Biotechnology
Abstract
Low quality water has become valuable resource with restricted or unrestricted use in food production
depending on its quality. This study has quantified the occurrence of Escherichia coli in Brassica rapa
L. chinensis (Chinese cabbage) vegetables and low quality irrigation water. A total of 106 samples
including Chinese cabbage (69) and water (37) were collected. The E. coli were cultured in petri film
selective E. coli plates at 44°C. The Chinese cabbage irrigated with river water at Fungafunga area
indicated significantly (P<0.001) high prevalence 86% (n=21, 0.00-4.10 log cfu/g) of E. coli than those
irrigated with treated wastewater at Mazimbu 10% (n=48, 0.00-1.36 log cfu/g). The mean counts of E. coli
in untreated wastewater ranged from 4.59 to 5.56 log cfu/mL, while in treated wastewater was from 0.54
to 1.05 log cfu/mL and in river water it was 2.40 log cfu/mL. Treated wastewater of the quality found in
this study could be used for food production.
Description
Academic Journal Vol. 15(49), pp. 2772-2777,
Keywords
Agricultural irrigation, Chinese cabbage, Incidental inputs, River water, Wastewater