Sanity of bell pepper fruit fertigated with wastewater from hog production

In order to evaluate the microbiological quality of bell pepper fruits produced with swine wastewater (SW), after preliminary treatment, pepper seedlings of variety Casca Dura Elquida were grown and fertigated with different levels of this wastewater providing 100 and 200% of the amount of the nitrogen needed for cultivation, with and without supplementation of fertilization. The fruits were analyzed for the presence of thermo-tolerant and total coliforms, and of Salmonella sp. The results showed that fertigation with SW, by trickle irrigation system, resulted in bell pepper fruits uncontaminated by fecal coliform and Salmonella spp., in accordance with the microbiological standards required by RDC n°12 02/01/2001.