Bacteriological quality and safety of green pepper and tomato irrigated with Abay River water in Bahir Dar town

The objective of this study was to determine the bacteriological quality and safety of green pepper (Capsicum annuum) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) grown along Abay river of Bahir Dar town, Ethiopia. The mean aerobic mesophilic counts from tomato and green pepper were 4.72 and 5.01 respectively. The mean total coliform counts from tomato was 234.9 MPN/g and green pepper 303.2 MPN/g. Similarly, the mean fecal coliform counts of tomato was 45.08 MPN/g and 58.1MPN/g from green pepper. The mean bacterial counts of green pepper were higher than tomato vegetables. Moreover, 5 (8.3%) Salmonella, 3 (5%) Shigella spp. and 6 (10% ) E. coli spp. were isolated from tomato; and 6 (10%) Salmonella, 5 (8.3%) Shigella and 9 (15%) E. coli spp. were detected from green pepper samples. The mean total coliform counts from Bezawit were 1040 MPN/100ml and 711.67MPN/100ml Gudguad site. Similarly, the mean fecal coliform counts of Bezawit was 689.67MPN/100ml and 390.00MPN/100ml from Gudguad. In both sites, lack of awareness and poor irrigation practice promote the probability of vegetable contamination. Therefore, keeping the irrigation practice of irrigated vegetable and providing regular training for farmers are some of the practices to improve bacteriological quality, safety and shelflife of vegetables and their products.