Isolation of Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Commercially Available Spices in Mangaluru City, India

Spices are important sources of natural flavouring, colouring and antimicrobial agents in food and medicine. In India, spices are widely produced, consumed and exported across the world. Like many other agricultural commodities, spices are exposed to a wide range of bacterial contamination during their harvesting, processing and transportation causing foodborne illnesses. Spices in their desiccated form offer an environment conducive to the survival of many pathogenic bacteria which becomes challenging for spice manufacturers to control or mitigate any bacterial contamination. The present study aimed at the isolation, phenotypic and genotypic identification of bacterial pathogens namely Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli associated with spices collected in and around Mangaluru, Karnataka. Isolation of bacterial pathogens was performed using a modified standard FDA BAM methodology. A total of 140 spice samples inclusive of pepper, clove, cumin, red chillies, turmeric, coriander, clove and fennel in whole and powdered form were screened for pathogens. No targeted bacterial pathogens were present in the samples collected. It can be inferred that good agricultural, manufacturing and hygienic practices were maintained in the commercial supply of spices. The absence of bacteria could also be attributed to the inherent antimicrobial properties of spices.