Microbiological evaluation of Japanese food, in Botucatu, SP

• Grant number: 19/10145-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Vera Lúcia Mores Rall
• Grantee: Gousilin Leandra Rocha da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The search for a healthy lifestyle has been increasing and more and more people looks for foods that fit in this question, such as those of Japanese food. Although the dishes are considered to be beneficial to health, the highly perishable characteristic, due to the presence of raw fish, combined with a highly manipulated preparation, increases the risk of contamination. A hygienic failure in the preparation, such as not washing the hands, can damage the microbiological quality of the food, even if transportation and storage have been adequate. Thus, considering contamination risks and the scarcity of information on the hygienic-sanitary quality of Japanese food in the city of Botucatu, 70 samples will be analyzed from different establishments in order to determine thermotolerant coliforms and to identify pathogens such as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, according to RDC nº12 (ANVISA, 2001). The isolates of S. aureus and B. cereus will be submitted to research on the capacity of biofilm production. In addition, S. aureus, after identification by PCR, will be investigated for the presence of genes related to the production of enterotoxins (sea-sei) and production of classical enterotoxins (SEA-SED) by RPLA.