Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: June | Volume: 7 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 78-83
Isolation of Intestinal Parasites in Vegetables Sold in Major Markets in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
Akinseye Janet Fumilayo1, Ayuba Sunday Buru2, Adewuyi Isaac Kayode3, Agunlejika Richard Adedokun3
1Department of Medical Laboratory Science, 2Department of Molecular Microbiology,
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
3Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Corresponding Author: Ayuba Sunday Buru
ABSTRACT
Background: Vegetables in nature are very important sources of nutrients to the body, which plays a fundamental role in homeostasis.
Aim: Commercially traded vegetables in the metropolitan city of Akure market were analyzed by means of sedimentation method with the view to discovering and identifying protozoan cyst and ova of helminthes of medical interest.
Materials and Methods: The vegetables consisted of 15 samples of each of the varieties from the 3 different markets in Akure listed below. Arowojeja tete (Amaranthus hybridus), Gbure (Water leaf) (Talinum triangulare), Soko (Celosia argentea) and Ugu (Telfairia occidentalis).
Results: There were high rates of contamination in all the varieties of vegetables analyzed except Ugu leaf (Telfairia occidentalis). However, the water leaf (Talinum triangulare) was the one which presented the highest frequencies of parasites. The Soko leaf (Celosia argentea) recorded the least whereas the Ugu leaf had no parasites discovered in the varieties analyzed.
Discussion and Conclusion: The parasites which occur frequently in the population is from Ojo Oba. The most frequent being ova of Ascaris lumbricoides (51.9%), ova of Hookworm (26%), Cyst of Entamoeba histolytica (18.5%) and eggs of Enterobius vermicularis is least (3.7%) were also recovered from the samples, thus corroborating the occurrence of high rates of feacal contamination. The results were analyzed using % and CHI Square method which shows that there is no significant difference between the numbers of parasites in the varieties of vegetables in the three markets.
Key words: vegetables, parasitic contamination, Akure, markets, Ascaris lumbricoides