Abstract
Garri is consumed by several millions of people in the West African sub-region and in Nigeria in particular, regardless of ethnicity and socio-economic class. However, production and handling methods have not been standardized resulting in garri product with varying mycological contamination. The objective of this study was to assess the mycological safety and mycological contamination of garri marketed in Amassoma, Bayelsa State. A total of forty-four samples comprising of both freshly prepared garri and displayed garri in the open market were used for this study. The samples were collected with sterile polythene bags adopting standard procedures and transported to the laboratory for analysis within 12 h. The result of this study clearly showed fungal contamination resulting from its display in the open market, Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. had the highest frequency of occurrence (33.3%) in white garri while in yellow garri, Aspergillus sp. (33.3%) was the fungi most frequently isolated. Other fungi species isolated in the garri samples were Fusarium sp, Mucor sp, Alternaria sp, Cladosporium sp and Rhizopus sp. The relationship between fungi spp. and type of garri (white or yellow) was not statistically significant as the calculated value was greater than the p value of 0.05. Since this product harbor arrays of fungi, strategy to antagonize their growth and survival in this commodity in order to neutralize the potential of these organisms serving as agents of food borne diseases should be adopted. Key words: Disease, fungi, garri, microbiology, production, occurrence.
Highlights
Garri is made from peeled, washed, grated, fermented and roasted fresh cassava tuber (Manihot escuelentaCrantz) (Ernesto et al, 2000)
A total of seven mould species (Aspergillu sp, Penicillium sp, Fusarium spp, Mucor sp, Alternaria sp, Cladosporium sp and Rhizopus sp) were isolated from both yellow and white garri displayed in the open market
Over 400 metabolites produced by moulds have been identified from different genus of fungi: Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp. and Trichothecium sp. (Krzyściak et al, 2011; Bräse et al, 2009 )
Summary
Garri is made from peeled, washed, grated, fermented and roasted fresh cassava tuber Crantz) (Ernesto et al, 2000). It is the most popular fermented cassava products in Africa (Oluwole et al., 2004; Ernesto et al, 2000) and it is consumed by several millions of person in West Africa where it forms major part of their diet (Edem et al, 2001; Kostinek et al, 2005; Ogiehor et al, 2007). Garri is stored and marketed in a ready-to-eat form and prepared into a stiff paste or dough-like called ‘Eba’ by adding the granules into hot water and stirring to make a paste of varied consistency.
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