Occurrence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHS) in Some Selected Vegetables Used as Salad Available in Local Markets in Owerri Municipal, Imo State Nigeria

Food safety is a serious concern in every part of the world. The interest of the public on food safety issues is on the ascendancy worldwide. The study determined the occurrence of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) in some ready-to-eat vegetables used as salad vegetables available in local markets of Owerri Municipal Imo State Nigeria. An experimental study design was adopted, where a total of two hundred and fifty (250) samples were used for this study. Seven (7) different ready-to-eat vegetables used as vegetable salads were used in this study. Existing instrument methods described by Samah et al. and Amoah et al were used for data collection after being validated and its reliability tested for quality assurance, 10% of the samples were randomly selected and re-examined by an experienced Laboratory Technologist. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21, frequency table were generated to determine the association between soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and ready-to-eat vegetables used as salad vegetables. A total of 54 soil-transmitted helminths were detected in the vegetables comprising 22 Ascaris lumbricoides, 7 Strongyloides stercolaris, 4 Necator americanus, 7 Ancylostoma duodenale and 14 Trichuris trichuria were detected. Garden egg seeds, cucumber and cabbage had the highest Ascaris lumbricoides occurrence, while lettuce had the highest Strongyloides stercolaris. Necator americanus was only isolated from garden egg seeds, cucumber, carrot and cabbage. Findings from this study have shown the presence of soil-transmitted helminthes in some ready to eat vegetables. This shows some poor level of adequate washing of these vegetables by farmers, wholesalers and retailers in different markets sampled. Therefore, vegetable vendors should adopt good hygienic practices to ensure that these vegetables are not contaminated with soil-transmitted helminths.