Abstract

Animal wastes in the form of manure frequently contain enteric pathogenic microorganisms and land spreading can lead to pathogen entry into the food chain. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the persistence of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium in soil, and on barley and rosemary plants. We observed that Salmonella typhimurium persisted for anextended period of time (203 to 231 days), and could be detected on infected vegetative parts of the rosemary and barley plants even after desiccation. After approximately two months, the colony morphology displayed a mucoid and rugose phenotype. Smooth colony morphology was acquired following incubation in nutrient broth and upon isolation from the digestive tracts of mice that had been challenged orally with stressed S. typhimurium. S. typhimurium was neither isolated from vegetative parts formed after plant contamination, nor from barley seeds and rosemary flowers.

Key words: Salmonella, soil, rosemary, barley, contamination.