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Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea

Received: 3 December 2014    Accepted:     Published: 30 January 2015
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Abstract

Blended tea with different herbs, seeds and dehydrated vegetable substances bring a world of flavours, aromas and colours to tea. Tea is usually made with dried tea leaves, or blended with other dried herbs and pouring boiling water over the leaves and letting them stay for a few minutes and then sip. This study was done to evaluate the microbial contamination of dried organic lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples intended to prepare flavoured tea and also to see the effect of gamma irradiation in inactivating microorganisms in dried organic herbs (lemongrass, mint and jasmine) samples intended to prepare flavoured tea. Presence of higher number of generic E. coli and pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 in dried organic lemongrass, mint, and jasmine samples, and blended tea samples were observed. No Salmonella was detected in dried lemongrass sample; however, presence of Salmonella was evident in mint and jasmine samples. Application of 2.0 kGy irradiation dose was able to successfully eliminate the pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples. In addition, the aerobic bacterial count was also reduced to <100 CFU/g in dried lemongrass or other tea samples. This finding suggested that application of 2.0 kGy dose of irradiation could successfully eliminate the pathogens and provide safe food with lower bacterial content compared to non-irradiated herbs for human consumption.

Published in Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 1-2)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Processing and Food Quality

DOI 10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42
Page(s) 165-170
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Organic Herbs, Lemongrass, Mint, Jasmine, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Irradiation

References
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[7] Esimone, C.O. Oleghe, P.O. and Ibezim, E.C. (2003). Effect of preservation agents on the microbial stability of some indigenous herbal preparations. Niger J. Pharm 34:37-42.
[8] Espen Rimstad (chair), E. Arne Høiby , Georg Kapperud, Jørgen Lassen, Bjørn Tore Lunestad, Truls Nesbakken, Karin Nygård, Ørjan Olsvik, Lucy Robertson, Michael Tranulis and Morten Tryland. (2008). Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety Panel on Biological Hazards final report on Risk assessment of import and dissemination of intestinal pathogenic bacteria via fresh herbs and leafy vegetables from South-East Asia. ISBN: 978-82-8082-244-4 ; 07/111-final report, pages 2-32.
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[12] Hsu WY, Simonne A, Jitareerat P, Marshall MR Jr.(2010). Low-dose irradiation improves microbial quality and shelf life of fresh mint (Mentha piperita L.) without compromising visual quality. J Food Sci. 75(4):M222-230. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01568.x.
[13] Harwell Amber 3042 Dosimeters. Available at http://www.harwell-dosimeters.co.uk/harwell-amber-3042. Accessed on October 12, 2014.
[14] Ilic, S., Rajic, A., Britton, C., Grasso, E., Wilkens, W., Totton, S., LeJeune, J. (2012). A scoping study characterizing prevalence, risk factor and intervention research, published between 1990 and 2010, for microbial hazards in leafy green vegetables. Food Control, 23, 7-19.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sharmin Zaman, Md. Khorshed Alam, Md. Firoz Mortuza, Md. Latiful Bari. (2015). Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea. Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 3(1-2), 165-170. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42

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    ACS Style

    Sharmin Zaman; Md. Khorshed Alam; Md. Firoz Mortuza; Md. Latiful Bari. Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2015, 3(1-2), 165-170. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42

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    AMA Style

    Sharmin Zaman, Md. Khorshed Alam, Md. Firoz Mortuza, Md. Latiful Bari. Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea. J Food Nutr Sci. 2015;3(1-2):165-170. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42,
      author = {Sharmin Zaman and Md. Khorshed Alam and Md. Firoz Mortuza and Md. Latiful Bari},
      title = {Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea},
      journal = {Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1-2},
      pages = {165-170},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfns.s.2015030102.42},
      abstract = {Blended tea with different herbs, seeds and dehydrated vegetable substances bring a world of flavours, aromas and colours to tea. Tea is usually made with dried tea leaves, or blended with other dried herbs and pouring boiling water over the leaves and letting them stay for a few minutes and then sip. This study was done to evaluate the microbial contamination of dried organic lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples intended to prepare flavoured tea and also to see the effect of gamma irradiation in inactivating microorganisms in dried organic herbs (lemongrass, mint and jasmine) samples intended to prepare flavoured tea. Presence of higher number of generic E. coli and pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 in dried organic lemongrass, mint, and jasmine samples, and blended tea samples were observed. No Salmonella was detected in dried lemongrass sample; however, presence of Salmonella was evident in mint and jasmine samples. Application of 2.0 kGy irradiation dose was able to successfully eliminate the pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples. In addition, the aerobic bacterial count was also reduced to <100 CFU/g in dried lemongrass or other tea samples. This finding suggested that application of 2.0 kGy dose of irradiation could successfully eliminate the pathogens and provide safe food with lower bacterial content compared to non-irradiated herbs for human consumption.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effectiveness of Irradiation Treatment in Eliminating E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in Dried Organic Herb Samples Intended for Use in Blended Tea
    AU  - Sharmin Zaman
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    AU  - Md. Firoz Mortuza
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    Y1  - 2015/01/30
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42
    T2  - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
    JF  - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
    SP  - 165
    EP  - 170
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7293
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.s.2015030102.42
    AB  - Blended tea with different herbs, seeds and dehydrated vegetable substances bring a world of flavours, aromas and colours to tea. Tea is usually made with dried tea leaves, or blended with other dried herbs and pouring boiling water over the leaves and letting them stay for a few minutes and then sip. This study was done to evaluate the microbial contamination of dried organic lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples intended to prepare flavoured tea and also to see the effect of gamma irradiation in inactivating microorganisms in dried organic herbs (lemongrass, mint and jasmine) samples intended to prepare flavoured tea. Presence of higher number of generic E. coli and pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 in dried organic lemongrass, mint, and jasmine samples, and blended tea samples were observed. No Salmonella was detected in dried lemongrass sample; however, presence of Salmonella was evident in mint and jasmine samples. Application of 2.0 kGy irradiation dose was able to successfully eliminate the pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in lemongrass, mint and jasmine samples. In addition, the aerobic bacterial count was also reduced to <100 CFU/g in dried lemongrass or other tea samples. This finding suggested that application of 2.0 kGy dose of irradiation could successfully eliminate the pathogens and provide safe food with lower bacterial content compared to non-irradiated herbs for human consumption.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1-2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Center for Advanced Research in Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

  • Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Center for Advanced Research in Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

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