Abstract
Background: Cocoa, Tea, and Coffee products are consumed worldwide; they are rich in nutrient and, thus, prone to microbial contaminations that could cause food infections and intoxication.Objective: the objectives of the paper are: To evaluate the microbial and chemical qualities of some popular brands of cocoa, coffee and tea products in Nigerian market and benchmark it with standard specifications, to determine the products safety for human consumption and proffer solutions on ways to prevent possible food borne hazards associated with these products.Materials and Methods: This study examined the microbiological and chemical qualities of some brands of these products at the consumer level using standard analytical methods. Results: Five (50%) of the cocoa products had coliform counts (cfu/g) significantly (p<0.05) higher than acceptable limits and range from 2.6×101±0.01 to 4.6×101±0.01. The mean total aerobic plate count and fungal counts (cfu/g) cocoa, coffee, and tea were not significantly (p<0.05) different from standard specifications. The microbial isolates include species of Bacillus (59.2%), Staphylococcus(12.0%), Enterobacter(1.6%), Aspergillus(20.0%), Penicillium(14.4%) and Saccharomyces (12.0%). Moisture contents higher than 6% and 3% standard specifications in tea and cocoa products was detected in 7(70%) of tea and 2(20%) of cocoa products respectively. The samples are rich in phenol contents (mg/ml) and contain varying concentrations of manganese, calcium, iron, and copper. Free Radical Scavenging (DPPH) activity of 6.2±0.01 to 16.3±0.02μg/ml was detected in the samples. Conclusion: Some cocoa products contain unacceptable levels of coliforms, the high moisture contents above 3 and 6% standard specifications in some cocoa and tea products could encourage the proliferation of mycotoxigenic moulds and pathogenic bacteria to hazardous levels. The use of good raw materials, compliance to good manufacturing practices (GMP) and apt storage are advocated.Keywords: Chemical qualities, Cocoa, Coffee, Microbial qualities, Mycotoxigenic moulds, Tea
Highlights
Cocoa, Tea, and Coffee have received much attention due to their significant roles in the human diet, the beverage/confectionery industries and high polyphenols contents
L'utilisation de bonnes matières premières, de la conformité aux bonnes pratiques de fabrication (BPF) et de stockage sont préconisées. apt Mots-clés: qualités chimiques, cacao, café, qualités microbiennes, moules, thé Mycotoxigenic
The cocoa and tea products were relatively more contaminated when compared to coffee samples, counts ranging from 1.7×102 - 2.9×102 cfu/g were obtained from cocoa products
Summary
Tea, and Coffee have received much attention due to their significant roles in the human diet, the beverage/confectionery industries and high polyphenols contents. To reduce contamination of coffee, tea and cocoa products, factors such as use of quality raw materials, correct storage conditions, application of hazard analysis, critical control points (HACCP) and other quality systems in good manufacturing practices (GMP), hygienic processing environment, training and education of food handlers should be well implemented. Beverages (coffee, tea, and cocoa) are nutritionally rich to support the proliferation of microbial spp [19] and contain polyphenols and minerals that have diverse beneficial biochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial effects [20, 21, 22], This study is set to assess the microbiological and chemical qualities of some cocoa, coffee and tea products in Nigerian markets. Conclusion: Some cocoa products contain unacceptable levels of coliforms, the high moisture contents above 3 and 6% standard specifications in some cocoa and tea products could encourage the proliferation of mycotoxigenic moulds and pathogenic bacteria to hazardous levels.
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