Short communicationBehavior of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli, non-O157-shiga toxin-producing E. coli, enteroinvasive E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli and enterotoxigenic E. coli strains on mung bean seeds and sprout

•No data exist on the behavior of EAEC, STEC, EIEC, EPEC and ETEC on seeds and sprouts.•The fate of these 5 pathogenic Escherichia coli on mung bean seeds and sprout was investigated.•EAEC, STEC, EIEC, EPEC and ETEC survived at least 90 days on mung bean seeds.•EAEC, STEC, EIEC, EPEC and ETEC grew during germination of seeds at 20 and 30 °C.

The behavior of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC), non-O157 shiga toxin-producing E. coli (non-O157-STEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) on mung bean seeds at 25 ± 2 °C and during germination and sprouting of mung bean seeds at 20 ± 2° and 30 ± 2 °C and on mung bean sprouts at 3 ± 2 °C was determined. When mung bean seeds were inoculated with EAEC, non-O157 STEC, EIEC, EPEC or ETEC strains, all these diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes (DEPs) survived at least 90 days on mung bean seeds at 25 ± 2 °C. All DEPs grew during germination and sprouting of seeds, reaching counts of approximately 5 Log and 7 Log CFU/g after 2 days at 20 ± 2° and 30 ± 2 °C, respectively. However, when the sprouts were inoculated after 1 day of seeds germination and stored at 20 ± 2° or 30 ± 2 °C, no growth was observed for any DEPs during sprouting at 20 ± 2 °C per 9 d; however, a significant increase in the concentration of DEPs of approximately 0.7 log CFU/g was observed during sprouting at 30 ± 2 °C after 1 day of sprout contamination. Refrigeration reduced the number of viable DEPs strains on sprouts after 10 days in storage; nevertheless, these decreases have no practical significance in the safety of the sprouts.