European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

NUTRITIONAL AND BACTERIAL QUALITY OF PACKAGED AND UNPACKAGED PROCESSED CASSAVA FLOUR

Oku I.*, Oyadougha W. T. and Okunbiri D. E.

ABSTRACT

Public health is at risk when bacteria are found in edible flours that are typically regarded as microbiologically safe. This study was therefore undertaken to evaluate the bacterial and nutritional quality of packaged and unpackaged cassava flour. Cultural, microscopic, biochemical test and most probable number (MPN) methods were employed to determine the various microorganisms; while proximate analysis was done to estimate inherent nutrients in the flour. ANOVA or the T-test were used to identify significant differences in unpackaged, nutritional, and microbiological quality at P<0.05. According to the results, the packaged cassava flour had 5.25±0.56 x 102 CFU/g of heterotrophic bacteria, while the unpackaged cassava flour had 2.21±0.47 x 102 CFU/g. The packaged cassava flour had a coliform bacterial count of 2.60±0.28x 102 CFU/g, while the unpackaged cassava flour had a count of 1.44±0.47 x 102 CFU/g. when compared it was observed that the unpackaged cassava flour has a higher nutritional and bacterial quality than the packaged cassava flour. Bacterial isolated from the flour samples include Bacillus sp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus sp. Streptococcus sp. and Citrobacter sp. respectively. The cassava flour sample's nutritional contents increased, according to the proximate analysis. According to the study's findings, flour packaged to the environment raises its microbiological concentration, raising issues with cleanliness and health.

Keywords: Cassava flour; Packaged; Unpackaged; Heterotrophic bacterial; Ccoliform bacterial.