Assessment of Bacterial Contaminants and Nutritional Profiles of Mung Bean Sprouts (Vigna radiate L)

Background: Aerobic bacteria were found as contaminants in mung bean sprouts (Vigna radiate L). They are also well-known for their excellent nutritional value as well as their ease of digestion. They are rich in calories, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, macronutrients, and vitamins.

Aim: To evaluate bacterial isolates and parameters of nutritional content of native mung bean sprouts and finally to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates to decide which antimicrobial agent should be utilized against certain bacterial strains.

Methodology: Total viable bacterial isolates were enumerated by the spread plate method, and bacterial species were determined from the selected culture media with biochemical analysis. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were performed by the Kirby-Bauer Disk Diffusion Method and minimum inhibitory concentrations were measured using the VITEK®-2 Compact system. The nutritional composition of the sprouts was assessed using procedures suggested by the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists).

Results: The contaminated bacterial levels were relatively lower and the higher level of total aerobic plate counts was 7.60 log10 CFU/g and 8.46 log10 CFU/g, respectively. In this study, 20 (40.8%) of mung bean sprout bacteria were lactose fermenters, such as E. cloacae complex 9 (18.4%), E. coli 8 (16.3%), and K. pneumonie 3 (6.1%), which fermented lactose to produce acidic environments that appeared as pink colonies, and 15 (30.6%) of non-lactose fermenters, namely A. baumannii 7 (14.43%) and P. aeruginosa 8 (16.3%), produced normally colorless colonies, but the rest of 14 (28.6%) were late lactose fomenters of S. marcescens grown in red-pigmented colonies in culture media. Thirteen commercially available antibiotics were used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates. Eighteen nutritional parameters were evaluated for both raw and dry sprouts.

Conclusion: Mung bean sprouts have numerous health benefits. Because of the high number of outbreaks associated with the presence of hazardous organisms, strict safety standards must be followed.