ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL CONTAMINANTS IN STORED PAP

 ABSTRACT

Pap is a widely consumed breakfast cereal in Nigeria and other West African countries especially among the underprivileged. The traditional method of pap preparation and storage makes its microbiological monitoring crucial to public health. Hence, this study to assess the bacteriological quality of stored pap produced from different cereals. Yellow and white maize, millet and ginger were purchased from an open market in Benin City, Nigeria. The different pap samples were prepared using the aforesaid ingredients and the bacteriological assessment was determined using culture based method. The mean total heterotrophic bacterial / lactic acid bacterial count increased with increase in storage time from day 0 to 6, with a sharp decrease in day 9. Although the highest mean total bacterial count of 108.21 x 10⁶ cfu/ml was observed in papprepared with white corn at day 6 and the lowest (5.00 x 10⁶ cfu/ml) in pap prepared with white maize at day 0. The bacterial count observed exceeded the permissible limits for bacterial count in fermented food which is <10⁵ cfu/ml. The highest mean total lactic acid bacterial count of 97.58 x10⁶ cfu/ml was observed in papprepared with white corn at day 6 and the lowest 2.00 x10⁶ cfu/ml was observed with pap prepared with white corn. The bacterial isolates identified during this study include: E. coIi, Lactobacillus plantarum, Pseudomonas aueroginosa and S. aureus, with diverse pattern of occurrence in different samples and at different storage days. The results obtained from this study have shown that stored pap contains both beneficial and pathogenic bacterial isolates, hence, proper hygienic conditions have to be practiced during preparation and storage to assure the safety of public health.