Detection of Listeria monocytogenes from fresh vegetables in Amol, northern Iran by PCR method

Khoshbakht, Rahem; Ahmadi Ara, Emad; Khosravi, Mojtaba; Mirzadeh, Hani; Mohammad Taghipoor, Pouya; Hosseinpour, Fatemeh Zahra

doi:10.22034/cjvs.2025.222396

Detection of Listeria monocytogenes from fresh vegetables in Amol, northern Iran by PCR method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Rahem Khoshbakht ¹

Emad Ahmadi Ara ¹

Mojtaba Khosravi ¹

Hani Mirzadeh ²

pouya Mohammad Taghipoor ²

Fatemeh Zahra Hosseinpour ²

¹ Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran; Zoonotic Diseases Research Group, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran.

² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran.

10.22034/cjvs.2025.222396

Abstract

Bacterial contamination of food is an important threat to food safety, which negatively affects health, economy, and society's well-being. Listeria monocytogenes is one of the pathogenic bacteria whose contamination in food is continuously increasing. Fresh vegetables are one of the food groups that can serve as a reservoir for L. monocytogenes bacteria. The increased consumption of fresh vegetables in recent years has led to increased cases of gastrointestinal infections caused by L. monocytogenes. The purpose of this study was the molecular isolation and sequencing of L. monocytogenes bacteria in fresh vegetables offered in the markets of Amol and Babol cities, Mazandaran province, Iran. Coriander and oregano were obtained, and the samples were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify L. monocytogenes bacteria. Among the samples, five samples were positive for the presence of Listeria genus and two samples were positive for the presence of L. monocytogenes, which indicated the contamination of vegetables from Mazandaran with L. monocytogenes. Although the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in this study was small, the presence of any type of Listeria can indicate improper sanitary conditions in different stages of production until the supply of vegetables or the possible contamination of vegetables by other pathogens.

Keywords

Food safety

Fresh vegetables

Listeria monocytogenes

Polymerase chain reaction

Subjects