Study of microflora of some processed vegetables.

The present investigation was undertaken at
the instance of the vegetable canning industry,
where spoilage had been noticed, particularly
in products such as canned peas, cauliflower,
cabbage and spinach. Though some attempts
have been made by Indian workers recently, it
was felt that there was need for collection of
more data on the subject of spoilage encountered
in canned vegetables under Indian conditions
of canning.
A study of the isolation, identification and
thermal death time of the spoilage organisms was
therefore taken up with a view to be of help to
the industry in this field.
Verma et all reported that exposure for 30
minutes at 115°C or for 10 minutes at 120°C,
was necessary for complete destruction of the
spores of heat resistant aerobic bacilli from milk.
Iyer and Bhat2 reported on the thermal resistance
of four dominant strains of heat resistant bacilli,
commonly encountered in nature. Ayan Dutt
and Bose3' 4 studied the average bacterial load
in vegetables at different stages during canning
and isolated, the low heat resistant B. polymyxa
and B. lentils from canned peas and cauliflower.
Rangaswami and Venkatesan5'6 reported on seven
bacterial isolates causing spoilage in canned
foods. The present studies relate to the spoilage
encountered in five types of processed vegetables
under Indian conditions.