Bacteriological Assessment of Awarawa Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) Consumed in Awka, South Eastern Nigeria

Tomatoes are among the indispensible ingredients in foods worldwide. They are rich in nutrients that promote healthy living of man. Unfortunately they are fragile when ripe and their storage is difficult. Most of the fruits spoil before reaching final consumers and when spoilt, they are sold at cheap cost. This study looked into the bacteria associated with the semi-spoilt tomatoes consumed in Awka, South East Nigeria. Standard procedures were used to isolate, characterize and identify bacteria from the samples. Bacteria counts ranged from 5.84-8.64 X 103cfu/ml, and the six bacteria isolates were identified as Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas sp, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp, Enterobacter sp and Proteus sp. The organisms occurred as mixed cultures in the awarawa tomatoes samples and at varying frequencies, with E. coli and Pseudomonas sp having lowest frequency of 7% while Klebsiella sp had the highest frequency of 40%. These isolated bacteria are pathogenic and can pose adverse health problems to consumers. Therefore it is not advisable to consume these semi-spoilt tomatoes to avoid food poisoning and other related problems.