ehavior of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli, non-O157-shiga toxin-producing E. coli, enteroinvasive E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli and enterotoxigenic E. coli strains on mung bean seeds and sprout.

The behavior of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC), non-O157 shiga toxin-producing E. coli (non-O157-STEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) on mungbean seeds at 25 2 C and during germination and sprouting of mung bean seeds at 20 2 and 30 2 Cand on mung bean sprouts at 3 2 C was determined. When mung bean seeds were inoculated with EAEC,non-O157 STEC, EIEC, EPEC or ETEC strains, all these diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes (DEPs) survived at least90 days on mung bean seeds at 25 2 C. All DEPs grew during germination and sprouting of seeds, reachingcounts of approximately 5 Log and 7 Log CFU/g after 2 days at 20 2 and 30 2 C, respectively. However,when the sprouts were inoculated after 1 day of seeds germination and stored at 20 2 or 30 2 C, nogrowth was observed for any DEPs during sprouting at 20 2 C per 9 d; however, a significant increase inthe concentration of DEPs of approximately 0.7 log CFU/g was observed during sprouting at 30 2 C after1 day of sprout contamination. Refrigeration reduced the number of viable DEPs strains on sprouts after10 days in storage; nevertheless, these decreases have no practical significance in the safety of the sprouts.