Detection of food-borne bacteria in ready to eat betel leaf sold at local markets in Mymensingh.

Aim: The present study was undertaken to determine bacterial load as well as characterize bacterial flora of ready to eat (RTE) betel leaf sold at local markets in Mymensingh city.

Materials And Methods: A total of 25 RTE betel leaf samples were collected from five local markets such as Kamal-Ranjit (KR) market, Shesh more, Kewatkhali, Jobber more, and Ganginar par.

Results: Total viable count of bacteria in betel leaf (log mean colony forming unit±standard deviation/ml) was 7.58±0.04 for KR market, 7.72±0.06 for Shesh more, 7.62±0.04 for Kewatkhali, 7.40±0.03 for Jobber more, and 7.60±0.06 for Ganginar par. A total of 98 bacterial isolates belong to five genera (, spp., spp., spp., and spp.) were identified. The prevalence of was 17.34%, spp. was 25.51%, spp. was 19.39%, spp. was 18.37%, and spp. was 19.39%. Antibiotic sensitivity test showed that all isolates were sensitive to two antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and gentamicin. Four isolates (, spp., spp., and spp.) were resistant to two antibiotics (ampicillin and cephalexin). Antibiogram profile of bacterial isolates of betel leaf suggests that they were multidrug resistance.

Conclusion: Data of this study indicate that betel leaf sold at local market harbors multidrug resistance food-borne bacteria which might cause public health hazards if these antibiotic resistant transfer to human through food chain.