Microbiological analysis of commonly consumed vegetables: A review on the ongoing studies

Vegetables are frequently consumed by people all over the world and hence, the microbiological quality of vegetable especially fresh produces are of significance for the sake of public health sustainability. Vegetables are spoiled by a range of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. Among the bacterial species, _Corynebacterium_, _Pseudomonas_ spp., _Listeria monocytogenes_, _Clostridium botulinum_, _Erwinia carotovora_, and _Xanthomonas campestris_ are the common vegetable spoilage microorganisms while the fungal genera _Botrytis cinerea_, _Colletotrichum_, _Aspergillus_, _Alternaria_, _Cladosporium_, _Fusarium_, _Penicillium_, and _Rhizopus_ spp. are the prominent spoiling candidates. Understanding vegetable spoilage mechanism/ microbial pathogenesis is important. The harvesting and handling procedures, storage conditions of vegetables, processing, injury of the vegetable plant tissues, and plant resistance against the pathogens are also of significance in order to analyze the toxic metabolites in the affected sites within the vegetables as well as for the prediction of the foodborne illness outbreaks. Implementation of good agricultural practices (GAPs) and good manufacturing practices (GMPs) during vegetable cultivation, harvesting, sorting, storage, transportation, and distribution is important. Moreover, processing of vegetables prior to consumption; i.e., controlling contamination of microbes, a thorough wash with vinegar water, salt water, and other washing means are important preventive measures to ensure the prevention of microbial contamination. Furthermore, up-to-date knowledge on the vegetable spoiling microorganisms, the epidemiology of such microbial contamination, and possible sources and route of the contamination may attribute to the possible future perspective on food safety.