A Survey on Parasitic Cysts, Larvae and Ova on Some Fruits and Vegetables Sold in Kashere Market

A survey on the contamination of vegetables and fruits with ova, larvae and cysts of parasitic protozoans and helminthes sold in Kashere market was carried out between the months of August and September, 2019. The sedimentation technique was used to assess it. Three vegetable leaves; Hibiscus subdariffa (sorel), Amaranthus cruentus (water leaf), Allium cepa (Onion) and three fruits; Cucumis melo (sweet melon), Solanium lycopersicum (tomato) and Psidium guajava (guava) were bought randomly from sellers. Out of the 150 samples collected (75 vegetable leaves and 75 fruits), 67(43 vegetable leaves and 24 fruits) were infested with cysts, larvae and ova of various protozoans and helminthes representing 44.7%. Among the leaves, Allium cepa was the higher infested with 72% while Hibiscus subdariffa had the lowest contamination with 40%. Solanium lycopersicum was highly contaminated among fruits with 44% while Psidium guajava was the least infested with 20% of samples. There was significant difference in the contamination among the fruits and vegetables at P ≤ 0.05. The following worm eggs, larvae and protozoan cysts were recovered; hoohworms, Strongloides stercoralis, Trichuira trichuris, Entamoeba coli, E. histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Ascaris lumbricoides. Ascaris lumbricoides was the commonest worm recovered with 12 samples out of 150 among the fruits and vegetable leaves, Entamoeba coli had the least frequency with only one positive case. There was also signicant difference among the parasites recovered at P ≤ 0.05. This signifies a lower level of sanitation among the sellers and therefore putting all consumers at risk.