Abstract
Due to increasing reports on poor‐quality palm oil in the market, there has been a continual decrease in demand and revenue cum product rejection of palm oil sold in Jos, Nigeria. Hence, the significance of this work aims to moderate the microbial and physical qualities of crude palm oil sold in different major markets in order to increase revenue through quality control and quality assurance protocols. The intent is to create awareness among government monitoring agencies, buyers (exporters and importers), and to promote standard processing procedures among manufacturers. The study was carried out to ascertain the levels of mold contamination and physicochemical properties of crude palm oil sold in Jos and its environ. A total of 90 samples were collected in sterile containers. Molds were isolated and identified using standard identification procedures. The physicochemical properties: free fatty acids (FFA), peroxide value (PV), iodine value (IV), moisture content (MC), and impurity level were determined. The assessment of mold isolated from the study sites recognized some life‐threatening genera capable of producing carcinogenic toxins. Candida sp. (51%) had the highest percentage of occurrence followed by Aspergillus sp. (45%) while Fusarium sp. (3%) was the least occurring mold. The mean mold count for all the palm oil samples ranges from 3.18 × 104 (cfu/mL)–4.56 × 104 (cfu/mL). Physicochemical findings showed that the average FFA (3.43–6.88%), PV (6.96–13.63 mEq/kg), IV (39.7–67.5 wijs), and MC (0.44–0.72%) values were within the SON acceptable limit, except the impurity level (0.28–0.44%) which was higher than the acceptable SON range in all the sites. There was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) in the mold and physicochemical properties of crude palm oil in almost all the samples analyzed when compared to both local and international permissible limits of the tested parameters recommended for edible palm oil. There was compliance between the permissible limits (local and international) of the physicochemical values of the parameters we tested for in the edible palm oil except the impurity level, while the mold count did not meet (was higher) with the required permissible limit of the SON mold count.
Highlights
Palm oil is one of the most consumed edible oils within the tropics
The number of different molds isolated in the total samples were: Candida sp 51 (56.6%), Aspergillus sp. 45 (50%), Trichophyton sp. 36 (40%), Mucor sp. 6 (6.66%), and Fusarium sp.3 (3.33%)
The result obtained in this study showed that palm oil samples from the study sites has reasonable amount of mold-producing genera
Summary
In Nigeria, it forms the basic food ingredient of every household It is a product of oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis), an ancestral cash crop tree of African origin. In tropical Africa, South-E ast Asia and parts of Brazil, palm oil is a common cooking ingredient, while in commercial industries, it is used for manufacturing soaps, washing powder, and other products (Bellis 2005). Since 2006, palm oil has become the world’s most important edible oil (ISTA 2007). It is a source of energy and fat deposits which insulate the body against loss of heat and protects the vital organs against mechanical injury (Baku et al 2012). Palm oil is an important food source to humans because it supplies essential fatty acids such as linoleic and arachidonic acid and contains large amounts of tocotrienol which is a part of the vitamin E family (Bonnie and Choo 2000)
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