Evaluation of the marketability, microbial quality, and safety of fresh-cut vegetable mixes from selected wet markets and supermarkets in Los Baños, Laguna

Date

6-2016

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Food Technology

Major Course

Major in Food Science

College

College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Katherine Ann C. Israel

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

With the consumers' increased awareness in healthy lifestyle, consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased by about 30% for the past decades. The study aimed to evaluate the marketability, processing practices, quality, and safety of fresh-cut vegetable mixes sold in selected wet markets and supermarkets in Los Baños, Laguna. From the 500 survey respondents in Los Baños, results showed that fresh-cut vegetable mixes have moderate marketability with quality as the most important factor considered when buying. Furthermore, the compliance of food processors to food safety practices in processing fresh-cut vegetable mixes was evaluated through interviews and the use of checklists for the observations and inspections. Based from the evaluation, there was a poor compliance observed from processors in wet markets. For the analysis of microbial quality, pour plating technique was used. All had high counts for APC (7.01-7.49 log(10) cfu g-1), total coliforms (4.60-7.35log(10) cfu g-1), and yeasts and molds (5.26-8.52log(10) cfu g-1. Although Salmonella was not detected in the fresh-cut samples, Escherichia coli were present in all of the samples. The high persistence and proliferations of these microorganisms reflect poor hygienic and sanitation practices of food handlers resulting to poor microbial quality and food safety issues.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2016 F61 /S68

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS