Abstract
Microorganisms associated with post-harvest spoilage of tomato fruits in Makurdi were evaluated. Random sampling techniques were used to pick 250 spoilt tomato fruits from North-bank, Wurukum, High level, Wadata and Modern markets. The bacteria isolated were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtillis, Esherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus while isolated fungi included Aspergillusspp, Alternaria species, Rhizopusspp, Candida species and Fusarium species. The bacteria isolated, from the spoilt tomato fruits sampled from Wurukum market had the highest colony forming unit of 6.5 x 10 (CFU/ml) followed by the ones sampled from Wadata, High-level, North-bank and Modern markets having 5.8 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), 4.3 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), 4.3 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), and 2.8 x 10 6 (CFU/ml) respectively. The fungi isolated from the spoilt tomato fruits from Wadata market had the highest colony forming unit of 6.7 x 10 (CFU/ml) followed by the samples from Wurukum, North-bank, High-level and Modern markets with 5.2 x 10 (CFU/ml), 4.6 x 10 (CFU/ml), 4.4 x 10 (CFU/ml) and 4.2 x 10 (CFU/ml) respectively. Using the same sampling techniques pathogenicity test on fifty (50) healthy tomato fruits from the same markets confirmed that bacteria and fungi that were earlier identified on the spoilt tomato fruits were still responsible for the spoilage, showing that deterioration of tomato fruits in Makurdi markets is due to the activities of these bacteria and fungi pathogens. Proper sanitary measures should be taken to improve harvesting and handling of tomato fruits to reduce spoilage caused by these pathogens.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) fruits, often described as vegetable are a type of fleshy fruit characterized by its soft pulp, thin skin and many seeds (Anyanwu and Komolafe, 2003)
This study shows that microorganisms especially fungi cause deterioration in tomato and consumption of some of the infected tomato can cause disease in man
Some of these microorganisms are fungi while others are bacteria, making it almost impossible to keep them safe from infection without using chemicals that may be harmful to consumer
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) fruits, often described as vegetable are a type of fleshy fruit characterized by its soft pulp, thin skin and many seeds (Anyanwu and Komolafe, 2003). Tomato continues to increase in importance for consumption as a fresh crop, as a major constituent in many prepared foods and as materials for research into fundamental principles of growth and development in plantation (Ajayi and Olasehinde, 2009). Tomato fruits form an integral part of human diet. They provide basic food and nutritionally essential vitamins and trace elements. It has an important role in improving food flavour and acceptability (Oladiran and Iwu, 1992). Processing cultivars are used for Nigerian Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences Vol 6, 2014
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