Parasitic Contamination of Commonly Consumed Salad Vegetables in Koforidua (New Juaben Municipal)

Fresh vegetables are good source of vital nutrients for healthy growth which we may not get when such vegetables are cooked. However, eating them raw may pose a great risk for transmissions of pathogens in humans because they may harbour a wide range of microbial contaminants. Parasitic infections were reported to lead to about 300 million severely ill individuals with approximately 200,000 deaths occurring in poor-resourced nations. Prevalence of parasite among vegetables in Accra, Ghana was 36.0%. A total of 360 vegetables consisting of cabbage, lettuce, spring onion, carrot and tomatoes were bought from two major markets in Koforidua. The samples were washed and the deposit examined microscopically for parasites. The prevalence of parasitic contamination of commonly consumed salad vegetables was 57.5% of which spring onion was the most heavily contaminated (97.22%). Strongyloides stercolaris larvae was most common intestinal parasite (36.39%) infesting almost the vegetable. Use of different concentration of saline demonstrated that concentration of saline has no effect on parasitic recovering rate; however, serial washing of vegetables showed decreasing recovering rate of parasites in this particular study. Vegetables in Koforidua markets are heavily contaminated with parasites and there is need for educating consumers, food venders and farmers on the dangers associated with consuming inadequately washed vegetable.