MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL SPECIES IN STREET VENDED CHOLAY CHAT USING 16S RRNA GENE

Abstract

The contamination of pathogenic microbes in street vended foods is a serious public health concern associatedwith foodborne illnesses (FBIs). The street vended Cholay Chat (SVCC) is a popular savory chickpea-basedready-to-eat food in Pakistan. The microbial quality of 18 SVCC samples was assessed through conventional andmolecular identification. A total of three (03) bacterial species (i.e., Bacillus cereus, Macrococcus caseolyticusand Staphylococcus sciuri) were characterized via phenotypic and biochemical analysis in SVCC. Among them,B. cereus remained highly prevalent (88.88%) followed by M. caseolyticus (61.11%) and S. sciuri (11.11%). Thepolymerase chain reaction (PCR) based DNA amplification of the 16S rRNA gene and sequencing of isolatedbacterial species were performed. The BLASTn analysis revealed that sequences were significantly aligned withB. cereus (97.38 %), M. caseolyticus (93.16%), and S. sciuri (97.21%). It is concluded that the microbial qualityof SVCC is highly detrimental and thus is liable to cause FBIs among consumers. Therefore, safe food handlingand manufacturing practices must be mandatorily assured by street food vendors to lessen the burden of FBIsamong consumers