Microbiological assessment of gourd for chimarrão: strategy for health prevention

Abstract

Introduction: The gourd, the preparation vessel of chimarrão, can be a propitious medium for the proliferation of microorganisms. Objective: To analyze the presence of microbiological contamination in the gourds used for chimarrão, and the effectiveness of the use of a dryer in the gourds. Method: Twelve used and twelve new gourds were used; they were divided into drying groups, one with dryer and another one without dryer. All remained 14 hours per day with the infusion. Three mL of Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) were
added to each gourd, collected, incubated for 24 h at 37°C and then 1 mL was seeded in triplicate in Sabourand and Plate Count Agar (PCA) media. This analytical methodology was used on days 0, 15 and 30. Results: Fungal growth, evaluated by the Sabourand medium, was statistically different between the new gourds on Day 01 (p = 0.004); on PCA there was difference on Day 01 (p = 0.004) and Day 15 (p = 0.046) between new gourds and on Day 30 (p = 0.004) for the used gourds. Conclusions: Contamination occurred in the material analyzed, which could represent a risk to the health of its consumers; the use of the dryer was not effective to avoid the growth of microorganisms.