Idakwoji John Amaje, Ochidi Victoria Ejura, Ohiaba Emmanuel E, Umar Bello, Ojatta Sunday
About 600 million people worldwide develop an illness after ingesting a contaminated food or drink and 420 000 die every year. Random samples of zobo drink and calyces were collected from Idah and Ugwolawo communities and analysed for their microbiological safety and quality criteria, such as Total Viable Count (TVC) of bact, oreria, Total Mould and Yeast Count (TMYC), Total Coliform Bacterial Count (TCBC) and Escherichia coli detection. Safety and quality indicators were isolated on/in nutrient agar (TVC), sabouraud dextrose agar (TMYC), MacConkey broth (TCBC) and eosin methylene blue agar (E. coli). The results from the study showed that the samples had TVCs of 5.01 to 5.32 log CFU/mL, which exceed the acceptable limit of <104 CFU/mL for ready to eat foodstuff. The highest TMYC (log 3.24 CFU/mL) was obtained from dry zobo calyces while the high TCBCs recorded for the zobo drink (1.63 log MPN index/mL) and the dry zobo calyces (1.63 log MPN index/g) from the two study locations are indicative of contamination from intestinal or environmental sources. There was no significant difference (p=0.05) between counts from the two study locations. The isolates included bacteria: Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus sp. and Lactobacillus sp and fungi: Aspergillus niger and members of the genera, Candida, Rhizopus, Penicillium and Saccharomyces. These isolates are established foodborne pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. In conclusion, the zobo drink samples do not meet the microbiological safety and quality criteria for ready to eat beverages, constituting a major challenge to public health.
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