Some vegetables such as Capsicum annum (Pepper), Lycopersicon esculentum (Tomato), Allium cepa (Onion), Cucumis sativus (Cucumber), Solanum tubero- sum (Potato) and Daucus carrota (Carrot) which are
consumed more frequently in the area were obtained from Kaduna central market
and Kawo market with the aim of isolating and characterizing the different
bacterial flora associated with their spoilage. Four bacteriological media:
Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA), MacConkey Agar (MA), Salmonella Shigella Agar (SSA)
and Blood Agar (BA) were used for the isolation of the bacterial populations.
The results obtained from Kaduna central market indicated the presence of two
Gram positive bacteria viz: Staphylococcus and Streptococcus strains as well
as three Gram negative bacteria including Escherichia coli, Citrobacter and Klebsiella spp. Staphylococcus aureus is the most abundant
(with 80% relative occurrence) with Strep-tococcus spp being the least abundant (with 10% relative occurrence).
Furthermore, among the Gram negative isolates, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter and Kleb- siella spp had the
highest occurrence of 30% each, while Enterobacter spp had the least. Similar results were obtained of the isolates from Kawo
market except that among the Gram negatives, Edwardsiella spp was
found in Kawo market but E. coli is absent. More so, S. aureus and K. spp has the highest percentage
of 605 each in Kawo market. The result showed that the people consuming these
vegetables are at higher risk of boils, carbuncles, impetigo, infections of
wounds and burns, breast abscesses, whitlow, osteomyelitis, bronchopneumonia,
septicemia, bacteremia, acute endocarditis, food poisoning and scalded skin syndrome due to these bacterial populations.