ABSTRACT
Toxicological assessment of stored garri samples were made. The parameters pH, Total titratable acidity(TTA), HCN, moisture, ash content, heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg) and PAHs were assessed using standard procedures. A replicate of three was used for each parameter giving a total sample of 18 samples. The garri samples were stored for one month. Data generated in this study were subjected to relevant statistical analyses. Moisture content of the white garri samples ranged from 7.87% to 8.43%, while that of the yellow garri samples varied from 8.04% to 8.95%. However, values for one month old garri are 10.8 9% to 11.72% for white, while that of the yellow garri ranged from10.90% to 11.95%. The initial ash content of white garri samples varied from 1.30% to 1.35%, while that of yellow garri varied from 0.88% to 1.22%, values for one month old white garri ranged between 1.13% to 1.79%. Mean HCN contents of all the initial white garri samples varied from 0.22mgHCN/100g to 0.27mgHCN/100g while in yellow garri it varied from 0.12mgHCN/100g to 0.16mgHCN/100g. The one month old white garri samples had values which varied from 0.22mgHCN/100g to 0.27mgHCN/100g while for yellow garri samples there ranged was from 0.12mgHCN/100g to 0.17mgHCN/100g. PAHs were generally not detected in the samples. The total titrable acidity, values ranged from 0.21 to 0.81% for the white garri while values ranged from 0.30 to 0.50% for yellow garri. The values were within the recommended maximum value of 1.0%. The pH values for the initial garri samples ranged between 3.7 and 4.0 for white garri, while values ranged from 3.4 to 3.7 for yellow garri samples. For one month old white garri samples the values ranged from 4.4 to 5.0 and for yellow garri values varied between 3.7 to 4.8. All the garri samples were found to be acidic and within the recommended value of 3.9-4.6. The garri samples had low heavy metal contents for Cu, Cd, Pb, Hg but Zn and Fe are found to have the highest value (Zn=19 and Fe=17) which were not in line with the FAO/WHO tolerable limits. The results for ash, moisture content, pH, HCN and TTA fell within the acceptable values but the Heavy metal contents were not in compliance with International Standards for Food.It is recommended that garri processing centres ensure that the garri be fried and dried very well in order to avoid high moisture content.
