Abstract :
Present investigation attempted to resolve the microbiological attributes of the fruit juices collected from different areas around Dhaka city. Twenty six vendor fruit juices and 15 packed juices were examined for the presence of total bacterial load, coliforms and staphylococci. Samples were found to harbor viable bacteria within the range between 10² -10^7 cfu/ml. Thirty samples exhibited the presence of staphylococci. Total coliforms were detected in 31 samples within the range of 10² -10^6 cfu/ml which were further detected as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. Fecal coliforms were found in 4 vendor fruit juice samples (10² cfu/ml), while in the industrially packed samples, they were completely absent. Drug resistance among the isolates was found against ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, ceftriaxone, piperaciline, trimethoprime-sulfomethoxazole, nalidixic acid and vancomycin. Overall, the study demonstrates that the quality of the both packed and fresh juices was unsatisfactory and hence the products need to be microbiologically controlled in order to ensure the overall health safety.
