Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of Food Contaminating Bacteria Isolates from Food Stall Vegetables

Today the issue of food safety is global problem that gets main concern in setting public health policy. The eruption of diseases caused by food contamination occurs in places where sanitation and hygiene conditions are generally poor. Reliable identification of bacteria remains to be an important task in food microbiology. Molecular procedures are the most efficient tools of microbial characterization. The objectives of this research were: To identify food contaminating bacteria from vegetable sample taken from food stall using biochemical tests; And to conduct molecular characterization of food contaminated bacteria isolated from vegetable sample in food stall. Six different (pair of cooked and uncooked) vegetable samples were isolated from three food stalls at Solo, Indonesia. Biochemical tests for glucose, lactose, mannitol, maltose, sucrose, SIM (H2S, Indole, and motility), Simmon's Citrate; Methyl Red and Voges Proskauer was conducted. 16S rRNA characterization and DNA sequence analysis was done. Both the biochemical and molecular characterization revealed that the dominant bacteria contaminants in the food stall vegetable samples were: 24 isolates of Klebsiella Spp, 3 isolates of Pseudomonas aeroginosa, 2 isolates of Aeromonas caviae and 6 isolates of Enterobacter asburiae. Only one out of 36 samples was uncontaminated with bacteria. In conclusion most of the bacteria studied were pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, to prevent food borne disease, attention should be given on hygiene and food handling in food stalls vegetables.