Avaliação da qualidade de vegetais minimamente processados em diferentes supermercados de Itacoatiara-AM

Abstract

In the hope of optimizing meal preparation time due to increasingly intense routines, there has been an increase in the search for minimally processed foods, due to having all the ease of a nutritious and practical product. The objective of this work was to evaluate whether there is the presence of hygienic-sanitary indicator microorganisms in food samples purchased in two supermarkets in the city of Itacoatiara - AM. Two samples of minimally processed vegetables were analyzed, with the aim of evaluating whether some of the samples or both had any presence of contaminating microorganisms. The samples were collected and taken to the ICET pharmacy laboratory, where microbiological analyzes were carried out using the serial dilution technique in multiple tubes, for the microorganisms of interest: total and thermotolerant coliforms, and Escherichia coli. After verifying contamination, Gram staining was performed, which allowed the characterization and initial classification of bacteria through microscopy visualization of the slides. With the execution of the present work, it determined the presence of microbiological contaminants in the samples of minimally processed vegetables, considering a positive result for the flasks in which there was gas formation inside the Duhran tube or chemical reaction, in the test when sown in LSB broth, EC and VB. Another qualitative test was carried out using petri plates, using MacConkey agar, the species Escherichia coli was found in samples “A” and “B, the positive result was due to the fact that Gram negative bacteria produce colonies with a pink color, as they are formed by lactose-fermenting bacteria.