Characterization and Isolation of Bacteria from Selected Fresh Fruits

Fresh fruit products eaten raw and minimally processed are important component of a daily diet. The study intends to isolate and characterized bacterial isolates cultured from selected fresh fruit samples in Esa-Oke Metropolis. Streak plate method was employed to isolate the bacteria. The result shows that two bacteria each were isolated from the fruit samples, except for banana on which only Staphylococcus spp was isolated. Staphylococcus spp was predominant bacterial isolate cultured from all the selected fresh fruit samples with 54.5% occurrence, Escherichia coli 18.2%, Klebsiella spp 18.2% and Pseudomonas spp 9.1%. The study concluded that the need for improved quality control in the storage of fresh fruit cannot be over emphasized as good hygiene should be encouraged by washing both the hand and the fruit before consumption.