Abstract
A total of 80 samples were collected from kitchens of rural and urban areas in Meerut district during July to August 2010. The more bacterial contamination (97.5%) in kitchens of rural areas as compared to the kitchen of urban areas (80%) was reported. The total number of bacteria isolates from the air of kitchens in rural and urban areas was 69 and 52, respectively, with total number of bacterial strain (66). The numbers of bacterial genera identified in kitchens of rural areas are 13 and in kitchen of urban areas are 10. The present investigation indicates that the rural kitchens are more contaminated (with the dominating 7 genera of pathogenic virulent bacteria that is, Proteus, Salmonella, Shigella, Aeromonas, Enterobacter, Citrobacter and Klebsiella species) as compared to urban kitchens (3 pathogenic genera such as Acinetobacter, Streptococcus and Corynebacterium species). In rural kitchens, the bacterial growth on the basis of colonies forming plates Proteus spp. for 70% of isolates, followed by Salmonella spp. (63%), Shigella spp. (55%), E. coli (50%), Klebsiella spp. (47.5%), Staphylococcus spp. (45%), Micrococcus spp. (38%), Bacillus spp. (30%), Lactobacillus spp. (12.5%), Lactococcus spp. (10%), Aeromonas spp. (7.5%), Citrobacter spp. (5%), Enterobacter spp. (2.5%) and urban kitchens; Micrococcus spp. accounted for 65% of isolates, followed by Bacillus spp. (60%), Staphylococcus spp. (50%), E. coli (40%), Acinetobacter (30%), Pseudomonas spp. (20%), Lactobacillus spp. (18%), Paenibacillus spp. (12.5%), Corynebacterium spp. (10%) that was observed. The primary sources of this bacterial contamination in kitchens are the food spoilage, stored kitchen waste and vegetables.
Key words: Bacterial contamination, pathogenic bacteria genus, non-pathogenic bacteria genus, rural kitchens vs. urban kitchens.
