Incidence of Microbial Contamination in Pearl Millet Based Gruel Used as Weaning Food during Traditional Cooling

Adamu S. D.

Abstract


The incidence of microorganisms in pearl millet-based gruel during traditional cooling was assessed. The total aerobic counts of the gruel after traditional cooling were evaluated. The result indicated that the samples of gruel produced from varieties of eight millet cultivars (WA-14, WA-18, WA-21, WA-25, WA-26, WA-27, WA-29, and WA-32) were contaminated during cooling. Results also indicated that the total bacterial count of unmalted millet-based gruel after cooling for the eight millet cultivars ranged from 1.17 to 1.88 CFU/ML while its mold count ranged from 0.47 to 1.98 CFU/ML.  Also, the total bacterial count of malted millet-based gruel for the eight millet cultivars after cooling ranged from 1.17 to 1.96 CFU/ML while the mould count ranged from 0.30 to 0.95 CFU/Ml. the microorganism isolated from the gruel produced were; Enterococus feacalis, Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Schizosaccaromyses pombe. Although some of these microorganisms are pathogenic they occurred at relatively low frequencies. Hence, there is a need to practice strict hygiene during this process.


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