Microbial composition and diversity of high-demand street-vended foods in Ecuador
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Date
2024
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Abstract
Developing countries such as Ecuador carry a heavy food safety burden but reports on the microbiological quality of their foods are scarce. In this investigation, the microbial diversity of 10 high‐risk and mass‐consumption
street‐vended foods including bolones, encebollado, food dressings, ceviche, chopped fruits, fruit juices, fruit
salads, cheese, raw chicken, and ground beef in Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca, three major population centers
in Ecuador, were evaluated using 16S rRNA gene High Throughput Sequencing. In total, 1,840 amplicon
sequence variants (ASVs) were classified into 23 phyla, 253 families, 645 genera, and 829 species. In the tested
food samples, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the most abundant phyla accounting for 97.41% of relative
abundance (RA). At genus level, 10 dominant genera were identified: Acinetobacter (12.61% RA), Lactococcus
(12.08% RA), Vibrio (8.23% RA), Weissella (7.43% RA), Aeromonas (6.18% RA), Photobacterium (6.32% RA),
Pseudomonas (3.92% RA), Leuconostoc (3.51% RA), Klebsiella (3.49% RA), and Cupriavidus (2.86% RA). The
highest microbial diversity indices were found in raw chicken, encebollados, fruit salads, and fruit juices from
Guayaquil and Cuenca. From sampled foods, 29 species were classified as food spoilage bacteria and 24 as
opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. Two groups associated with human diseases were identified, including 11
enteric species and 26 species of fecal bacteria. The occurrence of recognized and opportunistic pathogenic
bacteria, as well as enteric and fecal microorganisms, in the street‐vended foods indicated extensive risks for
the consumers’ health. This study demonstrated the application of culture‐independent amplicon sequencing
in providing a more comprehensive view of microbial safety for street‐vended food, which could be a useful
tool to facilitate the control of foodborne diseases
Resumen
Keywords
Foodborne pathogen, Next Generation, Sequencing, Opportunistic bacteria, Food spoilage, 16s