Abstract

Rhynchophorus phoenicis has been implicated to the spread of foodborne illnesses when consumed raw or ready-to-eat. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence and antibiogram of bacteria isolated from larvae of African African palm grub sold in Port Harcourt metropolis. A total of forty (40) samples of raw and ready-to-eat larvae of samples were purchased from Iwofe, Mile 3 and Rumuokoro markets and subjected to standard microbiological procedures such as culturing, isolation and identification. Hundred and seventy (170) bacteria were isolated belonging to the following genera; Escherichia, Klebsiella, Proteus, Salmonella, Serratia, Pseudomonas, Citrobacter, Staphylococcus and Micrococcus. This study recorded significant population of bacteria from the raw and ready to eat Rhynchophorus phoenicis with no significant differences (p≥0.05) across the various markets. In raw samples, the total heterotrophic bacterial counts (THB) ranged from 5.0±0.5 to 5.5±1.1 (x10⁵ CFU/g); total staphylococcal counts (TSC) ranged from 1.7±0.3 to 4.3±1.6 (x10⁴ CFU/g); total coliform count (TCC) ranged from 1.2±0.2 to 2.3±0.4 (x10² CFU/g) and total Salmonella shigella counts (TSSC) ranged from 1.7±0.2 to 2.5±0.7 (x10³ CFU/g). In the Ready-to-eat samples, the total heterotrophic bacterial counts (THB) ranged from 4.9±0.7 to 2.8±0.7 (x10⁵ CFU/g); total staphylococcal counts (TSC) ranged from 2.5±0.6 to 4.3±0.4 (x10⁴ CFU/g); total coliform count (TCC) ranged from 1.9±0.4 to 2.5±0.8 (x10² CFU/g) and total Salmonella shigella counts (TSSC) ranged from 1.6±0.8 to 2.6±0.8 (x10³ CFU/g) in Iwofe and Rumuokoro markets respectively. The prevalence of the bacteria from the raw samples revealed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.9%) had that highest occurrence and Klebsiella oxytoca (2.8%) had the least prevalence. In the Ready-to-eat samples, Staphylococcus aureus (32.3%) was the most prevalent bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.5%) had the least occurrence.  Generally, the result of the susceptibility pattern of the bacterial isolates revealed that Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella enterica, Serratia marcescens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Citrobacter freundii were resistant to Chloramphenicol, Sparfloxacin, (100%) and sensitive to Perfloxacin and Ofloxacin (100%) while Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus were resistant to Chloramphenicol (100%) and sensitive to Levofloxacin, Rifampicin and Levofloxacin (100%). The multiple antibiotic resistance index revealed that all the bacterial isolates had a MAR index greater than 0.2. These findings suggest the potential public health risks associated with the consumption of larvae of African palm grubs in Port Harcourt Metropolis. Implementation of food safety measures are recommended to ensure the safety of consumers.