Efficacy of vinegar as a disinfectant on the microbial quality of Lactuca sativa L.

Vegetables are widely exposed to microbial contamination, thus, harbor diverse microorganisms which may lead to infection outbreak.Microbial load on lettuce was estimated in this study, with vinegar, as a disinfecting agent.Randomly purchased samples were analyzed using standard microbiological methods to estimate microbial load in relation to disinfectant concentration and exposure time.Microbial load of samples rinsed with sterile distilled (control experiment) and tap water were 3.8 × 10 6 CFU/g and 4.0 × 10 6 CFU/g, while those rinsed with vinegar ranged from 1.0 × 10 5 CFU/g to 2.7 × 10 6 CFU/g.Upon subjection to different exposure times (0, 5, 10 min) and vinegar concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%), gradual reduction in microbial load was observed from 2.9 × 10 7 CFU/g, when rinsed with 0.5% vinegar to 1.0 × 10 6 CFU/g with 2.0% vinegar at initial time (0 min), at 5 min exposure, microbial load reduced from 1.9 × 10 7 CFU/g at 1.0% concentration to 3.0 × 10 5 CFU/g with 2.0% vinegar concentration, while the exposure of lettuce to 2.0% vinegar concentration for 10 min, showed no observable microbial growth.Lettuce samples analyzed were heavily contaminated with microorganisms, however, 2% vinegar at 10 min exposure time, was most effective at eliminating microbes.Healthy-looking vegetables may possibly harbor microorganisms, as such, good sanitary measures should be adopted before consumption.