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Mung bean sprout safety
Bacterial infection of mung bean
seeds can cause outbreaks of food poisoning when the sprouts
are eaten. Now research by a microbiologist from Nottingham
University, UK has shown ways of disinfecting the bean seeds
using natural methods and which do not prevent the beans
from sprouting.
"Bean
sprouts are regarded as a healthy food, but they are
often eaten raw in salads", said Apinya
Vanichpun, presenting her findings at the Society for
General Microbiology meeting, "If the bean seeds
are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria there can
be disease outbreaks when the sprouts are eaten".
"The challenge is
to find a means of disinfecting the seeds that kills
bacteria but that still allows the seeds to germinate to
produce sprouts," she continued. "Consumers who want
organic, "natural" foods do not want chemicals used to
disinfect them and so this must be taken into account too."
Her experiments used Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which
causes listeriosis, a serious food borne disease which can
lead to meningitis in people with a reduced immune system
and abortion in pregnancy. Applying hot and chilled water in
turn to the mung bean seeds killed significant numbers of
the bacteria. However it had the disadvantage that it
reduced the germination level of the seeds so producing
fewer sprouts.
An equal mix of lime juice and vinegar was as effective in
reducing bacterial numbers as a mixture containing sodium
hypochlorite, the sterilizing chemical used in babies'
bottles, and lactic acid; however this was still not as good
as the temperature treatments. The lime and vinegar mix also
had the problem that it affected the germination rate of the
seeds more than did the sodium hypochlorite solution (only
78% sprouted with lime and vinegar against 98% with sodium
hypochlorite),.
Hot water treatment seems to be a good option to use for
seed disinfection as it would be a suitable choice for
production systems that required the use of only natural
products for organic fresh produce.
Society for General Microbiology 04 09
Mung bean
(or green bean, mung, moong, munggo,
monggo, green soy, mug, dal - when bean is split)
Soy Heart
and Bone Health ...
Soy beneficial
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