The study was carried out to investigate the bacteriological status of freshly sliced water melon in mile III market Port Harcourt. A total of 20 sliced water melons was collected while one whole water melon collected was used as control in this study. The control sample was properly washed with sterile water and sliced aseptically. A sterile knife was used to cut 1.0g from each water melon sample and homogenized on a sterile mortar and pestle. The resultant homogenate was pipette (1.0ml) into 9.0ml of distilled water and serially diluted. The 104 dilution was plated out on Nutrient and MacConkey agar plates respectively using spread plate technique. The plates were incubated at 370c for 24 hours. The cultured plates were examined for colony growth and identification of isolates. The result showed that bacteria isolated from the sliced water melon were Staphylococcus aureus had 414 (45.8%). Escherichia coli 324 (35.5%), Bacillus spp 144 (15.8%), and Proteus 30 (3.3%)The control result showed that staphylococcus was the only organism that had a colony growth on the culture plate while others had no growth. The result showed that since the control had only a colony of staphylococcus on culture plate after it has been hygienically processed, contamination of the sliced water melon maybe due to poor sanitary condition employed by the vendors during processing and packaging. This is of public health concern as these organisms are known causes of food born diseases and food poisoning.

Full text: IJEIR_1779_FINAL.pdf