Abstract

MORALES-HERNANDEZ, Lucía et al. Detection of Salmonella spp. on Cantaloupe melon production units and packaging facility. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2009, vol.35, n.2, pp.135-145. ISSN 0568-2517.

Fresh Cantaloupe melons (Cucumis melo L.) group reticulatus coming from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, have been associated with outbreaks of salmonellosis in the United States of America and Canada. These countries suspended the importations of Cantaloupe melon from Mexico due to the outbreaks in 2001. This study evaluated the food safety quality of Cantaloupe melon, with the detection and identification of Salmonella in two production units and a packing facility unit in Zirándaro de los Chávez, Guerrero. 100 Cantaloupe melons (50 of the production units and 50 of the packaging unit), collected in January and April 2005, were analyzed by conventional bacteriological methods and growth in selective media for detection of Salmonella, as an indicator of fecal contamination. The proportion of melons with presence of Salmonella was 4%, in one of the field production units and 20% in the packing unit. Salmonella was detected in fruits irrigated with filtered but not chlorinated river water and handled by workers with poor hygiene. Characterization by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated that, two of six strains of presumptive Salmonella gave positive amplifications with the pair of primers Sal-3 and Sal-4 as with invA-1and invA-2. For four other isolates only two were observed with invA-1 and invA-2. These results suggest that in the region of Zirándaro de los Chávez there are more than one serotype of Salmonella, and demonstrate the importance of implementing prevention programs to ensure the sanitary quality of Cantaloupe melon.

Keywords : Salmonella spp.; biochemical tests; PCR; invA; Sal.

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