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Review
. 2020 Apr;147(5):516-532.
doi: 10.1017/S0031182020000086. Epub 2020 Jan 22.

Detection methods and prevalence of transmission stages of Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in fresh vegetables: a review

Salma Berrouch  1   2 , Sandie Escotte-Binet  2 , Rajae Harrak  3 , Antoine Huguenin  2 , Pierre Flori  4 , Loïc Favennec  5 , Isabelle Villena  2 , Jamaleddine Hafid  1
Affiliations
Review

Detection methods and prevalence of transmission stages of Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in fresh vegetables: a review

Salma Berrouch et al. Parasitology. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

One of the ways of human parasitic infection is the accidental ingestion of vegetables contaminated with parasites, which represents a major human health hazard. This non-exhaustive review aims to evaluate studies carried out on five types of vegetables (lettuce, parsley, coriander, carrot and radish) since 2000, particularly the methods used for recovery, concentration, detection and identification of protozoan parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp., and the results of each work. Various studies have determined the presence of pathogenic parasites in fresh vegetables with different rates; this variation in rate depends particularly on the detection method used which is related to each parasite and each vegetable type. The variation in parasitic prevalence in food could be due to different factors such as the geographical location, the size of analysed samples and the methods used for parasite detection.

Keywords: Cryptosporidium; Giardia; Toxoplasma; detection; prevalence of contamination; vegetables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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