Abstract
The study was aimed at evaluating the microbial spoilage of selected Nigerian fermented and unfermented foods. A total of four fermented and unfermented food samples were used for this investigation. Microbial and sensory evaluations of the food products during storage were carried out using standard procedures. During storage, the bacteria counts were observed to range from 2.2 × 105 to 4.8 × 105 CFU/mL and from 2.5 × 103 to 5.0 × 104 CFU/mL, for the unfermented and fermented food products, respectively. Similarly, the fungal counts ranged from 1.8 × 103 to 2.9 × 103 CFU/mL and from 0 to 5.70 × 103 CFU/mL for the unfermented and fermented food samples, respectively. Klebsiella aerogenes, Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc sp., Micrococcus varians, Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Cladosporium herbarum, Geotrichum candidum, Mucor mucedo, Neurospora sitophilia and Penicillium sp. bacteria and fungi that were recovered from the food samples during storage. The sensory evaluation of the food products showed the fermented ones being more acceptable to panelists than the unfermented ones. This could indicate that the palatability of the fermented food samples only experienced slight or no changes during storage, when compared to the unfermented ones. Key words: Fermented food, unfermented food, microbial spoilage.
Highlights
It is reported that fermented foods constitute about 25% of the foods consumed worldwide
At the end of 96 h storage period, the bacterial counts from the unfermented food samples ranged from 2.2 × 105 to 4.8 × 105 colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL), for yam and pounded yam, respectively
In the fermented food samples, the bacterial count was observed to range from 2.5 × to 5.0 × CFU/mL, for ‘Kati’ and ‘Eba’, respectively (Figure 1)
Summary
It is reported that fermented foods constitute about 25% of the foods consumed worldwide. Fermented foods have many advantageous attributes, which include improved nutritional value and safety against pathogens over nonfermented foods. These foods are normally considered to be safe against foodborne diseases because of the advantage of low pH, which is due to the presence of organic acids produced during fermentation. In Africa, because a majority of the fermented foods are produced at household levels, the issue of hygiene is a major concern (All and Dardir, 2009; Gadaga et al, 2004). Both fermented and unfermented food products are known to be susceptible to spoilage during storage. Their spoilage during storage is attributed to the presence of microorganisms and extracellular enzymes produced, which breakdown the food product into new substances resulting into changes in their organoleptic properties
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