A new study presents the first evidence that harmful pathogens
frequently linked with food-borne illnesses are more commonly found on
younger inner leaves than on older outer leaves of romaine lettuce. The
researchers from the Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unity,
Albany, California and the University of California, Berkley report
their findings in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is the fresh produce item most commonly
implicated in epidemics of food-borne illness, while Escherichia coli
O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica are the most frequently attributed
bacterial agents. Although previous studies have focused on E. coli
O157:H7 colonization on cut or shredded lettuce leaves, little is known
of its ability to colonize whole lettuce leaves in both pre- and
post-harvest environments.
In the study researchers investigated the growth of E. coli O157:H7
and S. enterica on romaine lettuce leaves both pre- and post-harvest.
The increased population size of E. coli O157:H7 on young lettuce plants
ranged from 16- to 100-fold in the presence of warm temperatures and
free water on the leaves.
The increase in population size also varied significantly with leaf
age, however the colonization was consistently 10-fold higher on the
young (inner) leaves than on the middle leaves. Growth rates of S.
enterica were found to be similarly leaf age dependent. Both bacterial
pathogens also displayed higher population rates on younger leaves than
on middle leaves harvested from mature lettuce heads.
"Our results indicate that leaf age and nitrogen content contribute
to shaping the bacterial communities of preharvest and postharvest
lettuce and that young lettuce leaves may be associated with a greater
risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7.
Journal reference: M.T. Brandl, R. Amundson. 2008. Leaf age as a risk
factor in contamination of lettuce with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and
Salmonella enterica. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 74. 8:
2298-2306.
Source : American
Society for Microbiology