Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jul 5;7(7):105.
doi: 10.3390/foods7070105.

Microbiological Parameters in the Primary Production of Berries: A Pilot Study

Guerrino Macori  1 , Giovanna Gilardi  2 , Alberto Bellio  3 , Daniela Manila Bianchi  4 , Silvia Gallina  5 , Nicoletta Vitale  6 , Maria Lodovica Gullino  7 , Lucia Decastelli  8
Affiliations

Microbiological Parameters in the Primary Production of Berries: A Pilot Study

Guerrino Macori et al. Foods. .

Abstract

The primary production of fresh soft fruits was considered to be a suspected critical point for the contamination of frozen berries that were responsible for the large 2013⁻2014 Hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Europe. In this study, an Italian berries’ production area was studied for its agro-technical characteristics, and the fresh fruits were analyzed for the presence of enteric viruses (HAV and Norovirus (NoV) genogroup I and genogroup II (GGI and GGII)), the enumeration of hygienic quality parameters, and the prevalence of bacterial pathogens. A total of 50 producers were sampled, who specialized in the exclusive or shared cultivation of berries. Escherichia coli was detected in two blackberry samples, whereas HAV and Norovirus were not detected. The samples were negative for Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The farms’ attributes were not associated with positive samples, apart from the presence of E. coli and the aerobic mesophilic bacteria for blackberry that were statistically correlated. In blueberries, the high aerobic mesophilic count could likely be associated with the resistance of the outer layer to handling. However, the two pathogens (Salmonella spp. and STEC) and the targeted viruses (HAV, NoV GGI and GGII) were not detected, highlighting the low risk of foodborne pathogens and viral contamination at the primary production stage of the berry food chain in the area considered in this pilot study.

Keywords: Hepatitis A virus; fresh berries; molecular detection; virological quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results of the questionnaire.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microbiological analysis and distribution among berries: (a) aerobic mesophilic count (AMC); (b) Enterobacteriaceae (Ent.).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fitzgerald M., Thornton L., O’Gorman J., O’Connor L., Garvey P., Boland M., Part A.M., Rogalska J., Coughlan H., MacDiarmada J., et al. Hepatitis A Outbreak Control Team. Outbreak of hepatitis A infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013—Linked to an international outbreak. Eurosurveillance. 2014;19:20942. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brazelton C. North American Blueberry Council; [(accessed on 3 June 2018)]. World Blueberry Acreage & Production. Available online: http://www.chilealimentos.com/2013/phocadownload/Aprocesados_congelados/....
    1. Milivojevic J., Slatnar A., Mikulic-Petkovsek M., Stampar F., Nikolic M., Veberic R. The influence of early yield on the accumulation of major taste and health-related compounds in black and red currant cultivars (Ribes spp.) J. Agric. Food. Chem. 2012;14:2682–2691. doi: 10.1021/jf204627m. - DOI - PubMed
    1. FAO Faostat Statistics Database. [(accessed on 3 June 2018)]; Available online: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/
    1. Knudsen D.M., Yamamoto S.A., Harris L.J. Survival of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on fresh and frozen strawberries. J. Food. Prot. 2001;64:1483–1488. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-64.10.1483. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources