gökmen, mukadderat balıkesir university - faculty of veterinary medicine - department of food hygiene and technology, Turkey , önen, adem balikesir university - faculty of veterinary medicine - department of food hygiene and technology, Turkey , ektik, nisanur balikesir university - instutie of health science - department of food hygiene and tecnology, Turkey , kara, recep afyon kocatepe university - faculty of veterinary medicine - department of food hygiene and technology, Turkey , torlak, emrah necmettin erbakan university - faculty of science - department of moleculer biology and genetic, Turkey , metli, murat hatay food control laboratory, Turkey

Detection of Prevalence, Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Factors of Enterococcus spp. Isolated From Ready to Eat Foods

33303

In this study, we identified the prevalence of Enterococcus spp., antibiotic resistance and several virulence factors of some ready-to-eat foods. Totally 114 Enterococcus spp. were isolated in 112 (59.90 %) of the 187 food samples analysed. Enterococcus spp. isolates were obtained from 39 samples of meat products (34.80 %), 42 samples of cheese brands (37.50 %), 25 samples of salads (22.30 %) and eight samples of halva (7.10 %). According to the results of the antibiotic resistance test, the Enterococci isolates obtained were determined to show resistance to at least 4 of the antibiotics used in the study. While no gelatinase activity was observed in any of the isolates, haemolysin activity was observed to be positive in 36 of them (31.60 %). As a result, having been regarded for years as harmless and reported likely to be used as a starter culture, some Enterococcus spp. pose a risk to public health and to food safety since they have virulence factors and strong antimicrobial resistance. For this reason, the Enterococcus spp. to be used as a starter in the food industry should be chosen from among those that don’t have pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance genes.

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Antibiotic resistance , Enterococcus spp. , Ready , to , eat foods , Virulence factors

Kocatepe Veterinary Journal

82