Bacteriological quality of bottled spring water sold in the city of Quito, Ecuador

The consumption of natural spring mineral water has been growing worldwide in recent years, representing a market worth millions of dollars. Bottled mineral water from natural springs is a non-sterile product with an indigenous bacterial microbiota, which is why it requires periodic studies to guarantee its safety. Therefore, the objective of the work was to determine the bacteriological quality of bottled natural mineral water at the time of its commercialization in the city of Quito, quantifying different bacterial groups that are indicators of sanitary quality. Samples of bottled natural mineral water were obtained randomly in commercial establishments, evaluating five brands of bottled natural mineral water without gas. From each brand of bottled water, a total of eight plastic bottles with a volume of 1.50 liters of water from the same batch were collected during two sampling campaigns. The groups of heterotrophic bacteria, total and fecal coliforms, as well as the group of bacteria of the Pseudomonas quantified using the membrane filtration technique. The results obtained in the bacteriological analysis show the presence of heterotrophic bacteria in a range of 1.2 x 10 CFU/100 mL to 1.6 x 103 CFU/mL and bacteria of the Pseudomonas in a range of 2.0 x 10 at 5.2 x 10 CFU/100 mL. The presence of total coliforms and Escherichia coli was not observed in the samples analyzed. The results show higher numbers of bacteria than those established in national and international regulations.

• Glavni avtor: Pillajo-Llushca, Christian (author)
• Drugi avtorji: Araque-Rangel, Judith (author), Andueza-Leal, Félix (author)
• Format: article
• Jezik: spa
• Izdano: 2025
• Teme: agua envasada; agua manantial; agua mineral; calidad microbiológica; calidad sanitaria; bottled water; spring water; mineral water; microbiological quality; health quality
• Online dostop: https://revistadigital.uce.edu.ec/index.php/RevFIG/article/view/7621