Abstract
In Cameroon, palm oil is extensively used in its crude form for food. The present study was carried out to access stakeholders’ perception of spoilage and the microbial quality of crude palm oil in the North-west Region of Cameroon. A random survey was carried out on 148 stakeholders of the crude palm oil marketing channel about their perception of crude palm oil spoilage. 79 samples were collected from different market sites in the region. Handlings of crude palm oil by the stakeholders were unhygienic and they had poor knowledge of the causes and reasons associated with its spoilage. The microbial contaminants isolated were Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, yeast, and Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus sulphureus and Aspergillus versicolor. The estimated overall bacterial load ranged from 17.14 × 104 to 36.41 ×104cfu/ml. The bacterial load of crude palm oil samples from each market was far above the minimum acceptable range stipulated by NAFDAC. There is need for these stakeholders to be educated on the health implications and risks associated with palm oil production and post-production handling. Key words: Crude palm oil, spoilage, microbiological quality, Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Highlights
Palm oil (PO) has become the most important and most traded vegetable oil globally, with a global production of 76 million tons (Nesaretnam, 2017; USDA, 2019; Gesteiro et al, 2019)
Information on the respondents’ awareness of crude palm oil spoilage, knowledge on the noticeable changes in organoleptic properties observed in spoiled palm oil, possible causes and reasons associated with CPO spoilage, appropriate methods of storage, signs of spoilage, appropriate mixing, knowledge on the microbiological quality of oil and effect of consumption of spoiled oil on human health were obtained
The microbial loads were above the NAFDAC acceptable limit the overall poor quality of crude palm oil samples collected from different sites in this region
Summary
Palm oil (PO) has become the most important and most traded vegetable oil globally, with a global production of 76 million tons (Nesaretnam, 2017; USDA, 2019; Gesteiro et al, 2019). PO is extracted by industrial, semi-industrial, or traditional methods, with the non-industrial sector representing about 30% of the total production of crude palm oil (CPO) (Dongho et al, 2016). Seventy-seven percent of palm oil produced worldwide is consumed as food (Orinola, 2018; Nesaretnam, 2017). In Africa, Cameroon is the fourth highest producer and is the world’s 12th largest producer of PO (Palm oil production in 1000MT, 2019). In Cameroon, the production is done at individual and industrial levels (Nkeze, 2010).
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