Coliphage as an indicator of fecal contamination in hydroponic cucumber (Cucumis sativus L) greenhouses

A preliminary study has been performed to evaluate the utility of somatic and F+‐specific coliphage as quality indicators of irrigation water used in hydroponic cucumber greenhouse operations. Samples of incoming water, waste hydroponic solution, cucumber fruit and plant roots derived from two green...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the science of food and agriculture 2005-11, Vol.85 (14), p.2397-2400
Main Authors: Xu, Jiali, Warriner, Keith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Biological and medical sciences
Clostridium perfringens
coliphage
Cucumis sativus
Escherichia coli
fecal indicators
Feces
Food contamination & poisoning
Food industries
Fruit and vegetable industries
Fruits
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Greenhouses
human pathogens
hydroponic cultivation
Hydroponics
Irrigation
salad vegetables
Water pollution
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Summary:A preliminary study has been performed to evaluate the utility of somatic and F+‐specific coliphage as quality indicators of irrigation water used in hydroponic cucumber greenhouse operations. Samples of incoming water, waste hydroponic solution, cucumber fruit and plant roots derived from two greenhouses were screened for bacterial fecal indicators (generic Escherichia coli, fecal coliforms, total coliforms and Clostridium perfringens) and coliphage. Bacterial fecal indicators were present in incoming water and in spent hydroponic solution with coliphage only being sporadically recovered. However, both somatic and F+‐specific coliphage were consistently recovered from the roots of cucumber plants along with bacterial fecal indicators. Despite the heavy contamination of plant roots, the cucumber fruits were within acceptable microbiological limits. F+‐specific coliphage was recovered from 1 out of 25 cucumbers tested along with generic E coli. In contrast, no somatic coliphage was recovered from cucumbers despite coliforms being present on 15 out of 25 units. In conclusion, coliphage represents a poor index of hydroponic irrigation water quality but presence on cucumber fruit and roots can be used to highlight the presence of fecal indicator bacteria within greenhouse operations. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
ISSN:0022-5142
1097-0010
DOI:10.1002/jsfa.2249