Assessment of the Microbiological Quality of Vegetable from Urban Community Gardens in Korea

Urban Farm DB summary

From September to October 2012, 530 samples of nine vegetable types were collected from 11 urban community gardens in Seoul to assess their microbiological quality. Mean total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were detected at 6.3 log CFU/g and 4.3 log CFU/g, respectively, with coliforms found in 67% of samples and E. coli in 2.3%. While foodborne pathogens were not detected, the presence of coliforms and E. coli indicates room for improvement in microbiological safety.