Eight types of fruits and vegetables including lettuce, cabbage, carrot, tomato, green pepper, banana, mango, and salad were purchased from four conveniently selected local markets, namely, “Bishishe,” “Hirmata Merkato,” “Kochi,” and “Agip” found in Jimma Town. Equal numbers of samples (45 each, totally 360 samples) were collected from the selected markets. The samples were collected, put in plastic bags, properly labeled, and brought to the Medical Parasitology Laboratory of Jimma University, for parasitological analysis.
A portion (200 g) of each fruit and vegetable was washed separately in 500 mL of normal saline for detaching the parasitic stages (ova, larvae, cysts, and oocysts) of helminths and protozoan parasites commonly assumed to be associated with vegetable contamination. After overnight sedimentation of the washing solution, 15 mL of the sediment was then transferred to a centrifuge tube using sieve, to remove undesirable matters. For concentrating the parasitic stages, the tube was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for five minutes [5 ]. After centrifugation, the supernatant was decanted carefully without shaking. Then the sediment was agitated gently by hand for redistributing the parasitic stages. Finally, the sediment was examined under a light microscope using ×10 and ×40 objectives. Modified Zeihl-Neelsen staining technique was also used for identification of oocysts of Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora spp as described elsewhere [11 ].
A portion (200 g) of each fruit and vegetable was washed separately in 500 mL of normal saline for detaching the parasitic stages (ova, larvae, cysts, and oocysts) of helminths and protozoan parasites commonly assumed to be associated with vegetable contamination. After overnight sedimentation of the washing solution, 15 mL of the sediment was then transferred to a centrifuge tube using sieve, to remove undesirable matters. For concentrating the parasitic stages, the tube was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for five minutes [5 ]. After centrifugation, the supernatant was decanted carefully without shaking. Then the sediment was agitated gently by hand for redistributing the parasitic stages. Finally, the sediment was examined under a light microscope using ×10 and ×40 objectives. Modified Zeihl-Neelsen staining technique was also used for identification of oocysts of Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora spp as described elsewhere [11 ].
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