Avaliação parasitológica das alfaces (Lactuca sativa) disponíveis para consumo em restaurantes do Bairro Rosa Elze, São Cristóvão/SE

Abstract

In natura vegetables are very important to human health because of their high nutritional value. Among them, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) occupies a prominent place in the Brazilian market. As they are consumed raw they can be vehicles of transmission of parasitoses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the parasite contamination in lettuces served in self-service restaurants located in the neighborhood of Rosa Elze, São Cristóvão - SE. For this purpose 10 restaurants were selected and 4 lettuce samples from each restaurant were collected, totaling 40 samples, which were analyzed microscopically in the Laboratory of Entomology and Tropical Parasitology (LEPat) of the Federal University of Sergipe and processed by the Spontaneous Sedimentation Method ( Hoffman, Pons and Janer, 1934) in order to verify whether or not there could be parasites. Of the analyzed samples, 87.5% (35 samples) showed contamination by Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Iodamoeba bustschlii, Paramecium and nematode larvae. These results indicate that the lettuce samples are in disagreement with the current legislation, making evident the need for an improvement both in hygiene and in the handling of these vegetables throughout the process until reaching the consumer and also the supervision of the competent bodies, especially Sanitary Surveillance .