An assessment of the microbial quality of fresh-cut fruit

Fresh-cut fruit and fruit salads belong to the sensitive and perishable foods. A total of 123 samples of packaged fresh-cut fruit products from different retail markets and manufacturers were examined for their microbiological quality. The total count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria ranged from 7.3 x 10(2) to 1.6 x 10(10) cfu/g. The levels of Enterobacteriaceae and pseudomonads, which proved to be the predominant microorganisms were between less than 100 cfu/g (detection limit = 100 cfu/g) and 1.1 x 10(10) cfu/g. The most frequently isolated species were Pantoea spp., Pseudomonas fluorescens/putida, Serratia rubidaea, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia liquefaciens, Enterobacter cloacae and Rahnella aquatilis. The counts of lactic acid bacteria were between less than 100 cfu/g and 5 x 10(8) cfu/g and of yeasts and moulds were between less than 100 cfu/g and 6.8 x 10(8) cfu/g. Staphylococcus spp. were detected in 13 % of the samples at levels between 1 x 10(2) and 2 x 10(3) cfu/g. E. coli was isolated from 17 samples and the maximum viable colony count was 3.0 x 10(4) cfu/g. Salmonella spp. were not detected in any of the samples. Pathogenic species Listeria monocytogenes was confirmed in 24 cases (19.5 %).