DETECTION OF LISTERIA SPP. AND LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN VEGETABLES BY LOOP-MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFCATION (LAMP) AND MULTIPLEX POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR)

This paper aimed to study the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern among Listeria monocytogenes in raw vegetables sourced from commercial farms and local farms in Terengganu. Thirteen types of vegetables investigated for the presence of L. monocytogenes using multiplex PCR and LAMP methods. Isolation of L. monocytogenes was done according to FDA-BAM standard protocol. Seven Listeria isolates were subjected to antibiotic test against 10 types of antibiotics. L. monocytogenes was found in 3.8% and 7.3% of vegetables sourced from commercial farms and local farms respectively. Both multiplex PCR and LAMP methods capable of detecting L. monocytogenes , but LAMP method was simpler with visual observation of the completed amplification. The isolates were highly resistance towards penicillin G (86%) and vancomycin (71%) and susceptible towards most of the antibiotics tested.